IN  STORY  AND  INCIDENT 


COL.  NICHOLAS  SMITH 


- CLARKE 


' '  Old  Clory ' ' — JQO  ? 


OUR 
NATION'S  FLAG 

In  History  and  Incident 


BY 

COLONEL  NICHOLAS  SMITH 

» i 

AUTHOR    OF 

Stories  of  Great  National  Songs,  Hymns  Historically  Famous,  and 
Songs  from  the  Hearts  of  Women. 


MILWAUKEE 

THE  YOUNG  CHURCHMAN   CO. 
1903 


Copyright  by 

THE  YOUNG  CHURCHMAN  CO. 
1903. 


THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED  TO 

Mrs.  FRANCES  SAUNDERS  KEMPSTER 

CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE 

TO  PREVENT 
THE  DESECRATION  OF  OUR  COUNTRY'S  FLAG 

OF  THE 
NATIONAL   SOCIETY 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION 


FOREWORD. 


THE  FLAG  of  our  country  was  ordained  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  years  ago.  During  this  period  it  has 
been  unfurled  in  five  memorable  wars  besides  sixteen 
wars  with  Indians.  My  fellow-countrymen  cannot  fail 
to  be  deeply  interested  in  the  story  which  tells  how  this 
flag  came  into  being  and  the  great  events  connected 
with  its  evolution. 

Historical  sketches  of  "Old  Glory"  in  newspapers 
and  magazines  are  abundant  but  fragmentary.  Not 
including  the  present  volume  only  eight  or  nine  books 
have  been  written  on  the  flag.  This  is  a  small  number 
when  the  greatness  of  the  theme  is  considered.  General 
Schuyler  Hamilton  was  its  pioneer  historian,  his  small 
but  valuable  volume  appearing  in  1852.  Admiral 
George  Henry  Preble  published  his  exhaustive  work  on 
the  flags  of  all  nations  twenty-five  years  ago.  He  gives 
much  space  to  the  American  flag,  but  the  bulk  of  the 
volume  and  the  peculiar  style  in  which  it  was  compiled 
and  edited  make  it  more  suitable  as  a  reference  book 
for  public  libraries  than  for  popular  reading.  Other 
books  put  forth  since  Preble's  monumental  work  was 
issued  are  small,  and,  while  in  some  degree  merito- 
rious, are  not  sufficiently  comprehensive  in  scope  and 
treatment. 

My  purpose  in  preparing  this  volume  was  to  supply 
much  that  is  lacking  in  other  books  on  our  Nation's 
flag.  The  story  here  given  of  the  many  banners  used 
in  the  early  part  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  of 
the  first  Stars  and  Stripes,  is  concise,  straightforward 


6  OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

and,    I    firmly    believe,    reliable.      Tradition    is    not 
accepted  as  history. 

A  feature  peculiar  to  this  volume  is  the  synopses  of 
the  debates  in  the  American  Congress  relative  to  the 
alterations  of  the  flags  of  1795  and  1818.  There  is 
nothing  more  curious  and  interesting  in  the  history  of 
the  Star  Spangled  Banner  than  those  debates  which 
have  never  before  been  published  in  any  work  on  the 
flag. 

A  chapter  of  special  value  is  the  one  giving  the 
work  being  done  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  to  save  the  flag  from  desecration. 

I  invoke  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  sections  Five 
and  Seven  as  giving  more  valuable  historical  incidents 
with  which  the  starry  banner  has  been  associated  and 
more  eloquent  apostrophes  to,  and  paragraphs  about, 
the  flag  than  all  other  books  on  that  subject  combined. 
Those  seeking  for  important  flag  history  and  note- 
worthy incidents,  and  splendid  "salutes"  to  the  great 
emblem  of  human  freedom,  will  find  much  that  is 
useful  and  inspiring. 

I  am  under  obligation  to  United  States  Senator 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge  of  Massachusetts;  United  States 
Senator  Albert  J.  Beveridge  of  Indiana;  General 
John  C.  Black,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic;  General  John  B.  Gordon;  Colonel 
Henry  Watterson;  the  Rev.  H.  Clay  Trumbull;  Mr. 
Jacob  A.  Riis;  Mr.  James  Whitcomb  Riley;  Mr.  Ogden 
Hoffman  Fethers;  Mr.  C.  P.  Farrell,  owner  of  copy- 
right of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll's  works;  Mrs.  Catherine 
Gansevoort  Lansing,  Albany,  N.  Y. ;  the  New  York 
Tribune;  and  others,  who  have  generously  responded  to 
the  call  for  a  helping  hand  in  the  preparation  of  the 
book. 

NICHOLAS  SMITH. 

Milwaukee,  Wis.,  September  28,  1903. 


CONTENTS. 

OUE  NATION'S  FLAG       9 

The  Great  Variety  of  Flags  during  the  Early 
Period  of  the  American  Revolution. 

A  GEEAT  HISTORIC  EVENT 43 

The  Making  of  the  First  Star  Spangled  Banner. 

GROWTH  OF  THE  FLAG  --------      67 

The  First  Alteration  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
by  Congress. 

MORE  STARS  AND  FEWER  STRIPES    -     -    -    -       73 

The  Second  and  Last  Alteration  of  the  Flag  by 
Congress. 

NOTEWORTHY  FLAG  INCIDENTS    -----      87 

Many    Historical    Facts    with    which   the    Star 
Spangled  Banner  has  been  Associated. 

PROTECTING  THE  FLAG  PROM  DESECRATION    -    144 

The  Patriotic  Work  Accomplished  by  the  Daugh- 
ters of  the  American  Revolution. 

GOOD  THINGS  SPOKEN  OF  THE  FLAG    -    -    -     153 

Including  Many  Apostrophes  to  the  Banner  of 
Liberty  by  Eminent  Orators,  Poets  and  Soldiers. 

GENERAL  INDEX    ----------     207 


OUR   NATION'S   FLAG. 

THE  GREA  T  VARIETY  OF  FLA  GS  D  URING 

THE   EARLY  PERIOD    OF   THE 

AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

"No  tyrant  hath  claimed  that  flag  for  his  own; 

Its  bright  folds  were  never  unfurled 
To  flatter  or  shelter  the  glare  of  a  throne; 
That  banner  was  born  for  the  world." 


MERICANS  rightly  claim  that  the 
most  beautiful  flag  in  the  world  is 
the  Star  Spangled  Banner.  It  sym- 
bolizes the  union  of  the  greatest  Re- 


r-' 


public  on  earth.  It  stands  for  all  that  is  just, 
and  true,  and  progressive,  in  National  govern- 
ment. The  American  flag  has  been  unfurled  in 
more  movements  for  the  protection,  the  liberty, 
and  the  elevation  of  man,  than  any  other  flag  that 
ever  waved  triumphantly  on  the  wings  of  the  wind. 
Over  half  a  million  human  lives  have  been  laid  on 
the  altar  of  Freedom  that  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
might  wave  over  a  united  and  peaceful  people. 
Not  counting  the  changes  which  have  been  made 
in  the  number  of  stars  which  brighten  its  blue 


10         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

field,  our  flag  is  older  than  that  of  either  Great 
Britain,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Sweden,  Por- 
tugal, or  Spain.  The  true  story  of  a  banner  that 
has  never  waved  on  any  battle-field  or  ship-of-war 
but  for  the  single  purpose  to  defend  and  uplift 
mankind,  is  an  inspiring  study. 

For  nearly  seventy  years  before  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  broke  out,  the  red  ensign  of  Great 
Britain  was  generally  adopted  by  the  American 
colonies.  It  was  called  the  Union  flag,  because 
in  the  upper  corner  next  to  the  staff,  which  is 
called  the  canton,  were  the  red  cross  of  St.  George, 
representing  England ;  and  the  white  cross,  repre- 
senting Scotland.  The  combination  of  these 
crosses  which  indicated  a  union  character,  was 
prescribed  in  1707.  While  the  colonists  were  not 
lacking  in  devotion  to  the  British  ensign  in  pre- 
revolutionary  times,  they  nevertheless  took  occa- 
sion to  place  some  particular  device  upon  it  ap- 
plicable to  the  individual  colony  to  which  it  be- 
longed. 

Some  writers  contend  that  it  is  difficult  to 
describe  with  accuracy  the  first  flag  under  which 
a  battle  for  American  independence  was  fought. 
Others  claim  that  there  was  no  standard  carried 
either  at  Lexington  or  Concord — the  first  battles 
of  the  Revolution,  and  fought  on  the  same  day — 
April  nineteenth,  1775.  But  this  is  an  error. 
Captain  Nathaniel  Page,  of  the  minute  men  of  the 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


11 


town  of  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  was  flag-bearer 
of  his  company  at  Concord  when  Emerson's  "em- 
battled farmers  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the 
world."  His  standard  had  a  maroon  ground,  bore 

an     outstretched     hand 

•)  grasping  a  sword,   and 

^  on  a  scroll  was  imprint- 

ed the  motto,  Vince  aut 
morire,  signifying, 
"Con  or  die."  A  re- 
port on  this  peculiar 
standard  made  to  the 
Massachusetts  Histor- 
ical Society  in  Janu- 
ary, 1886,  says  it  was 
originally  designed  in 
England  as  far  back  as 
1660-70  for  the  three-county  troop  in  the  "Bay 
State,"  and  became  one  of  the  accepted  standards 
of  the  organized  militia  of  that  colony,  and  as 
such  was  used  by  the  Bedford  company. 

Miss  Frances  A.  Wood,  librarian  of  the  Public 
Library  at  Bedford,  writes  the  author  concerning 
this  valuable  relic  of  the  Revolution,  that  the 
Concord  flag  is  not  only  a  fact,  but  that  it  now 
occupies  a  place  in  a  fire-proof  vault  in  the  library. 
Some  years  ago  Mr.  William  S.  Appleton  told 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  that  in  his 
opinion  the  Concord  flag  far  exceeds  in  historic 


Concord  Flag  177$. 


12         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

value  the  famed  flag  of  Eutaw  and  Pulaski's  ban- 
ner, and  it  is  the  most  precious  memorial  of  its 
kind  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge. 

The  Liberty  Tree. 

In  proportion  to  the  number  of  men  engaged, 
the  most  desperate  battle  of  the  Revolution  was 
Bunker  Hill,  fought  on  the  seventeenth  of  June, 
1775.  It  was  a  contest  between  fifteen  hundred 
Americans  and  two  thousand  and  five  hundred 
British.  For  an  engagement  of  small  forces  it 
was  one  of  the  bloodiest  and  hardest  fought  bat- 
tles of  modern  times.  Four  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  Americans,  and  one  thousand  and  fifty-four 
British,  were  either  killed  or  wounded  in  the  space 
of  one  hour's  actual  fighting.  While  some 
authorities  claim  that  it  is  doubtful  that  the 
colonists  carried  a  flag  on  that  fateful  Saturday 
afternoon,  Benson  J.  Lossing,  the  greatest  mas- 
ter of  revolutionary  history  this  country  has  pro- 
duced, believes  that  the  standard  raised  at  Bunker 
Hill  was  the  time-honored  New  England  flag.  Its 
ground  was  blue,  the  red  cross  of  St.  George  was 
in  the  inner  corner  quartering  a  white  field,  and 
in  the  upper  inner  quarter  was  the  figure  of  a  pine 
tree.  While  the  colonists  expressed  their  loyalty 
to  England  by  placing  the  cross  of  St.  George  on 
their  flag,  they  asserted  their  right  to  place  on  the 
same  banner  an  emblem  symbolical  of  the  sturdy 
manhood  of  New  England. 


Red  Ensign  of  Great  Britain 
1707 


Pine  Tret:  Flag  of  New  England 
1704. 


Bunker  Hill  Flag 
1775- 


Colonel  Moultrie's  Flag 
1775- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         13 

One  reason  for  supposing  that  the  colonists 
were  without  colors  is  that  in  the  third  charge 
by  the  British  which  gave  them  the  victory,  no 
flag  or  standard  of  any  kind  was  seen  or  taken. 
In  a  success  so  sweeping  it  would  seem  almost 
certain  that  an  American  flag  would  have  been 
captured  by  the  enemy  had  one  been  on  the  field. 

An  ensign  that  was  much  used  for  many  years 
prior  to  the  Revolution  is  known  as  the  pine  tree 
flag  of  New  England,  and  was  in  all  respects  like 
the  so-called  Bunker  Hill  flag  except  that  its 
ground  was  red.  Its  use  began  as  early  as  1704. 

John  Trumbull,  son  of  the  distinguished  Rev- 
olutionary patriot,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  was  one 
of  America's  best  artists.  One  of  his  most  famous 
paintings  is  "The  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,"  which 
now  occupies  a  place  in  the  rotunda  of  the  capital 
at  Washington.  In  this  composition  Trumbull 
represents  the  Americans  carrying  a  red  flag,  in- 
stead of  blue,  having  a  white  center  and  a  red  cross 
and  a  green  pine  tree.  Admiral  Preble,  in  his 
large  and  valuable  work  on  the  flags  of  various 
Nations,  says  this  representation  of  the  Bunker 
Hill  banner  cannot  be  correct;  and  he  suggests 
that  painters  frequently  take  a  poet's  license,  and 
are  not  always  particular  in  the  accuracy  of  the 
accessories  of  their  paintings.  The  illusions  of 
history  are  varied  and  numerous.  In  the  same 
battle-piece,  Trumbull  clothes  General  Israel  Put- 


14         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

nam  in  a  splendid  uniform  of  blue  and  scarlet 
when  defending  his  guns,  but  the  brave  "Isra- 
elite," as  he  was  often  called,  fought  in  his  shirt 
sleeves  and  wore  an  old  hat.  The  Admiral  re- 
calls the  interesting  incident  that  in  Leutze's 
"Washington  Crossing  the  Delaware,"  on  Christ- 
mas Day,  1776,  there  is  prominently  displayed  the 
American  flag  with  the  blue  field  and  union  of 
white  stars,  although  the  flag  in  the  painting  had 
no  existence  whatever  until  June  fourteenth, 
1777! 

Just  one  month  after  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill,  General  Putnam  rallied  his  division  at  Pros- 
pect Hill,  near  Boston,  and  read  a  declaration  of 
the  Continental  Congress  which  set  forth  the 
causes  and  necessity  of  taking  up  arms  against 
England.  The  soldiers  attested  their  approval  of 
the  declaration  by  loud  cheering.  A  pathetic  ad- 
dress was  then  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Abiel  Leon- 
ard, chaplain  to  Putnam's  regiment.  A  fervent 
prayer  was  made,  and  at  the  close  a  grand  Amen ! 
came  from  the  assembled  troops.  Following  a  sa- 
lute of  thunder-sound  from  the  cannon,  a  beautiful 
flag  was  unfurled.  It  was  a  "present,  so  it  is  said, 
from  John  Hancock,  to  the  General  and  his  men 
for  their  valorous  deeds  at  Bunker  Hill.  It  had  a 
red  ground,  and  on  one  side  was  the  Connecticut 
motto,  Qni  transtulit  sustinet,  the  English  render- 
ing being,  "He  who  transplanted  still  sustains" ; 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         15 

and  on  the  reverse  side,  over  a  pine  tree,  was  the 
early  motto  of  Massachusetts,  "An  Appeal  to 
Heaven."  It  is  singular  that  no  satisfactory  illus- 
tration of  this  flag  has  been  printed. 

Associated  with  the  history  of  our  flag  are  two 
trees,  the  stories  of  which  are  worth  telling.  One 
became  famous  early  in  the  Revolution,  and  the 
other  was  popular  in  Massachusetts  some  seventy 
years  before  the  war  for  independence  was  de- 
clared. The  pine  tree  appeared  on  silver  coins 
of  that  colony  as  early  as  1652,  the  dies  being  cut 
by  Joseph  Jenckes,  at  the  Lynn  iron  works. 
Eventually  the  tree  became  a  part  of  the  New 
England  flag,  and  has  already  been  described. 

The  Bunker  Hill  Flag. 

The  Liberty  Tree  will  always  be  invested  with 
peculiar  interest  because  of  its  connection  with  the 
stirring  events  during  the  decade  prior  to  the  Rev- 
olution. The  grand  old  elm  stood  in  a  grove  on 
the  present  site  of  Washington  and  Essex  streets, 
Boston.  Its  precise  location  is  marked  by  a  build- 
ing, on  the  front  of  which  is  an  enduring  bas- 
relief  of  the  tree,  and  above  it  are  the  words,  "Lib- 
erty Tree."  At  the  root  of  the  tree  is  the  maxim, 
"Law  and  Order,"  and  on  the  base  is  the  legend, 
"Sons  of  Liberty,  1766."  The  following  inscrip- 
tion was  fastened  for  a  long  time  to  the  giant  elm : 


16         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

"This  tree  was  planted  1614,  and  pruned  by  the 
Sons  of  Liberty,  February  14,  1766."  A  few 
years  ago  Lydia  Bolles  Newcomb  wrote  for  The 
Outlook  a  bright  article  on  "Songs  and  Ballads 
of  the  Revolution,"  in  which  she  says  that  to  the 
people  of  New  England  the  Liberty  Tree  was  the 
prototype  of  "Liberty  enlightening  the  world," 
although  they  very  dimly  realized  what  the  "signs 
of  promise"  were. 

Many  patriotic  meetings  were  held  under  the 
wide-spreading  branches  of  this  majestic  elm,  and 
effigies  of  objectionable  persons  were  hanged  upon 
it  during  the  excitement  growing  out  of  the 
stamp  act.  The  colonists  were  full  of  righteous 
indignation  in  those  days,  and  on  the  third  of 
November,  1773,  the  Liberty  Tree  was  the  scene 
of  an  historic  assembly.  It  had  become  known  to 
the  colonists  that  ships  loaded  with  tea  were  on 
their  way  to  Boston,  and,  gathering  under  the  tree, 
resolutions  were  adopted  prohibiting  the  con- 
signees of  the  cargo  from  selling  the  tea  on  Amer- 
ican soil,  and  demanding  that  it  should  be  prompt- 
ly returned  to  London.  The  resolve  of  the  col- 
onists was  ignored,  and  on  the  sixth  of  December, 
1773,  the  famous  "Boston  tea  party"  took  place, 
when  three  hundred  and  forty  chests  of  tea  were 
cast  into  the  bay.  When  the  British  re-occupied 
the  city  in  1774,  the  Liberty  Tree  was  cut  down, 
and  fourteen  cords  of  wood  were  made  of  its  trunk 
and  branches. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         17 

About  this  time,  Thomas  Paine,  one  of  the 
most  zealous  patriots  of  the  Revolution,  and  surely 
one  of  its  ablest  defenders,  wrote  a  beautiful  bal- 
lad entitled  "Liberty  Tree,"  which  was  first  pub- 
lished in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine.  I  append 
the  full  text : 

"In  a  chariot  of  light  from  the  region  of  day 

The  Goddess  of  Liberty  came; 
Ten  thousand  celestials  directed  the  way, 

And  hither  conducted  the  dame. 
A  fair  budding  branch  from  the  gardens  above, 

Where  millions  with  millions  agree, 
She  brought  in  her  hand  as  a  pledge  of  her  love, 

And  the  plant  she  named  Liberty  Tree. 

"The  celestial  exotic  struck  deep  in  the  ground; 

Like  a  native  it  flourished  and  bore; 
The  fame  of  its  fruit  drew  the  nations  around 

To  seek  out  this  peaceable  shore. 
Unmindful  of  names  or  distinction  they  came; 

For  freemen  like  brothers  agree. 
With  one  spirit  endued,  they  one  friendship  pursued, 

And  their  temple  was  Liberty  Tree. 

"Beneath  this  fair  tree,  like  the  patriarchs  of  old, 

Their  bread  in  contentment  they  ate, 
Unvexed  with  the  troubles  of  silver  and  gold, 

The  cares  of  the  grand  and  the  great. 
With  timber  and  tar  they  old  England  supplied, 

And  supported  her  power  on  the  sea ; 
Her  battles  they  fought  without  getting  a  groat, 

For  the  honor  of  Liberty  Tree. 

"But  hear,  O  ye  swains, — 'tis  a  tale  most  profane, 
How  all  the  tyrannical  powers, 


18 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


\ 


Kings,  Commons,  and  Lords,  are  uniting  amain, 
To  cut  down  this  guardian  of  ours. 

From  the  East  to  the  West,  blow  the  trumpet  to  arms ; 
Through  the  land  let  the  sound  of  it  flee. 

Let  the  far  and  the  near  all  unite  with  a  cheer, 
In  defence  of  our  Liberty  Tree." 

It  does  not  appear  that  many  flags  bore  the 
legend,  "Liberty  Tree,"  during  the  early  part  of 
the  Revolution.  One  carried  by  Commodore  Hop- 
kins has  been  illustrated,  and  of  this  I  shall  have 
something  to  say  hereafter. 

The  Markoe  Flag. 

A  beautiful  and  unique  flag  of  historic  inter- 
est made  its  appearance  in  1775.  When  General 

Washington  departed 
from  Philadelphia  in 
June  of  that  year  to 
take  command  of  the 
army  at  Cambridge, 
near  Boston,  he  was 
escorted  to  New  York 
City  by  the  Philadel- 
phia troop  of  Light- 

Markoe  Banner,  I775-         h.0rse'     The  banner  Cai" 

ried  by  the  troop  was 

forty  inches  long  and  thirty-four  inches  wide, 
and  was  made  of  yellow  silk,  and  both  sides 
were  alike.  On  a  scroll  beneath  the  shield 
are  the  words,  "For  these  we  strive."  In  an 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         19 

illustration  given  elsewhere,  one  simple  de- 
sign strikes  the  eye.  In  the  upper  left-hand 
corner  are  thirteen  stripes,  blue  and  silver,  and 
this  master-thought  of  the  artist  is  of  special 
significance  because  it  was  the  first  flag  or  banner 
of  the  Revolution  to  display,  in  any  form,  thirteen 
stripes  to  symbolize  the  thirteen  colonies  which 
were  contending  for  their  rights. 

The  banner  was  designed  by  John  Folwell  of 
Philadelphia,  of  whom,  unfortunately,  nothing  is 
now  known;  and  the  painting  was  executed  by 
James  Claypole  of  that  city.  More  .than  a  cen- 
tury and  a  quarter  have  rolled  by  since  that  flag 
was  made,  yet  it  is  fairly  well  preserved.  It  is 
placed  between  two  plates  of  glass  in  an  iron  vault 
built  expressly  for  that  purpose,  in  the  armory 
of  the  Philadelphia  troop  of  Light-horse.  The 
banner  has  been  displayed  only  on  a  few  notable 
occasions  since  1830. 

Abram  Markoe,  who  presented  the  banner  to 
the  troop  of  Light-horse  early  in  the  summer  of 
1775,  was  an  enthusiastic  patriot,  and  was  the 
organizer  of  the  troop  of  which  he  was  made  cap- 
tain. He  was  born  in  the  Danish  West  Indies 
in  1729,  and  in  early  boyhood  he  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  in  the  course  of  years  became  wealthy. 
Being  a  Danish  subject,  he  was  compelled  to  re- 
sign the  captaincy  of  the  troop  when  the  neutrality 
edict  of  Christian  VII.  of  Denmark,  was  promul- 
gated. 


20          OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

The  idea  has  been  advanced,  and  it  seems  on 
reasonable  ground,  that  the  thirteen  stripes  on 
Captain  Markoe's  flag  may  have  suggested  to 
Washington  the  stripes  for  the  new  colonial  flag 
hoisted  at  Cambridge,  six  months  later. 

The  Cambridge  Flag. 

The  origin  of  the  first  flag,  which  was  distinct- 
ively colonial,  is  clouded  with  uncertainty.  A 
great  deal  has  been  published  in  newspapers, 
magazines,  and  books  concerning  the  flag,  but 
much  of  what  has  been  said  is  indifferent,  and  is 
tradition  rather  than  history. 

When  Congress  was  in  session  in  Philadelphia 
in  September,  1775,  it  was  asked  to  consider  many 
pressing  questions  raised  by  General  Washington, 
who  was  then  at  army  headquarters  at  Cambridge. 
The  Continental  Congress  did  not  count  itself  com- 
petent to  legislate  wisely  on  army  affairs  without 
a  clearer  understanding  of  the  wishes  and  opinion 
of  the  commander-in-chief.  To  reach  an  intelli- 
gent consideration  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
army  as  speedily  as  possible,  Congress,  on  the 
thirtieth  of  September,  1775,  appointed  a  com- 
mittee of  three,  of  which  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
chairman,  with  instructions  to  repair  immediately 
to  Cambridge  and  confer  with  Washington  and 
representatives  from  several  colonies  touching  the 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         21 

most  effectual  method  of  continuing,  supporting, 
and  regulating  a  Continental  army.  For  reasons 
which  have  never  been  explained,  this  committee 
is  alluded  to  by  most  writers  on  the  subject  as  "a 
committee  to  design  a  flag,"  when  according  to 
all  official  records  its  appointment  is  no  part  of 
the  history  of  the  colonial  banner  which  was  first 
hoisted  at  Cambridge. 

Writers  on  the  American  flag  generally  con- 
ceal the  identity  of  two  members  of  the  committee 
by  referring  to  them  as  simply  "Mr.  Harrison  and 
Mr.  Lynch."  To  the  general  reader  this  is  as 
meaningless  as  it  is  unjust  to  the  memory  of  those 
distinguished  patriots.  Benjamin  Harrison  of 
Virginia  was  a  Colossus  in  the  cause  of  liberty. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  a 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was 
father  of  President  William  Henry  Harrison,  and 
great-grandfather  of  our  late  President  Benjamin 
Harrison.  Thomas  Lynch  of  South  Carolina,  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Colonial  Congress  in 
1765,  and  was  reputed  as  a  man  of  large  ability. 

The  making  of  a  new  flag  was  a  matter  of  great 
concern.  It  meant  a  forward  movement  and 
marked  the  beginning  of  a  new  order  of  things  in 
the  army.  To  symbolize  the  union  of  thirteen 
colonies  by  the  beautiful  blending  of  thirteen 
stripes,  red  and  white,  was  of  striking  significance. 


22         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Yet  the  Journal  of  Congress  does  not  mention 
the  flag  in  connection  with  the  appointment  of  this 
committee  of  conference.  If  these  gentlemen  had 
been  authorized  to  make  a  flag  to  meet  the  new 
conditions  under  which  a  united  colonial  army 
was  to  fight  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
American  people,  surely  Congress  would  have 
suggested  as  much  to  the  committee.  The  works 
of  Franklin  do  not  associate  the  flag  with  their 
official  duties  at  Cambridge.  Washington,  always 
painstaking  and  methodical  in  noting  on  paper 
events  which  deeply  concerned  the  colonists,  omits 
in  his  numerous  letters  from  the  camp,  any  refer- 
ence to  the  designing  of  a  flag  for  the  reorganized 
army. 

A  small  book  on  the  flag,  published  a  few 
few  years  ago,  says  the  flag  committee  arrived  at 
Cambridge  on  the  morning  of  the  thirteenth  of 
December,  1775.  The  author  draws  profusely 
upon  his  fancy  when  he  says  that  immediately  on 
the  arrival  of  the  committeemen  they  invited  an 
unnamed  person  to  join  them  in  making  a  new 
flag,  and  that  during  the  following  night  the 
stranger  submitted  a  design  that  met  the  approval 
of  Washington  and  Franklin,  and  was  then  and 
there  "formally  and  unanimously"  adopted  by  the 
committee.  The  proceedings  of  the  American 
Congress,  and  the  letters  of  Washington  and 
Franklin  tell  us  that  the  conference  committee  was 


Cambridge  Hag  Hoiited  by  Washington,  Jan.  2 ,  /7/6. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         23 

not  at  Cambridge  at  any  time  during  the  month 
of  December,  1775.  The  members  of  the  com- 
mittee departed  from  Philadelphia  on  October 
fourth,  and  reached  Washington's  camp  on  the 
fifteenth  of  the  same  month.  They  were  in  con- 
ference with  the  General  on  official  business  from 
the  eighteenth  to  the  twenty-second  of  October. 
The  committeemen  left  the  camp  in  time  to  reach 
Philadelphia  early  in  November  to  submit  their 
report  to  Congress,  in  which  not  a  word  was  said 
about  a  new  flag  for  the  new  army. 

However,  some  patriotic  and  thoughtful  mind, 
not  known  to  historians  of  our  time,  had  done  some 
right  thinking  about  a  new  flag  for  a  reorganized 
army,  and  on  the  second  day  of  January,  1776, 
it  was  hoisted  over  the  American  camp  at  Cam- 
bridge. It  was  called  the  "Great  Union  Flag," 
and  in  one  striking  particular  it  was  rightly 
named.  It  consisted  of  thirteen  stripes,  red  and 
white,  with  the  crosses  of  St.  George  and  St.  An- 
drew in  the  canton,  from  which  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  flag  was  only  half  American.  Colonel 
Joseph  Reed  of  Philadelphia,  was  Washington's 
military  secretary,  and  he  was  also  secretary  of 
the  conference  committee,  and  it  is  possible  that 
the  peculiar  feature  of  the  Union  flag  may  have 
been  suggested  by  him.  It  is  not  too  much  to  pre- 
sume, although  the  probable  evidence  of  such  a 
presumption  is  not  sufficiently  strong  to  satisfy 


24         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

some  writers,  that  Washington  may  have  been  the 
inspiration  of  the  stripes  of  red  and  white.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  the  design  of  the  flag  came 
within  one  step  of  being  the  Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner. 

Those  who  fancy  that  Washington  was  not  in- 
clined to  humor,  will  read  with  mingled  surprise 
and  pleasure,  a  quotation  from  a  letter  written  by 
him  to  Colonel  Reed,  dated  at  Cambridge,  Jan- 
uary fourth,  1776,  just  after  the  hoisting  of  the 
new  flag: 

"We  are  at  length  favored  with  a  sight  of  His 
Majesty's  most  gracious  speech,  breathing  senti- 
ments of  tenderness  for  his  deluded  American 
subjects.  A  volume  of  them  was  sent  out  by  the 
Boston  gentry,  and,  farcical  enough,  we  gave  great 
joy  to  them  (the  red  coats,  I  mean),  without  know- 
ing or  intending  it ;  for  on  that  day,  the  day  which 
gave  being  to  the  new  army,  we  had  hoisted  the 
union  flag  in  compliment  to  the  united  colonists. 
But,  behold !  it  was  received  in  Boston  as  a  token 
of  the  deep  impression  the  speech  had  made  upon 
us,  and  a  sign  of  submission!  By  this  time  I 
presume  they  begin  to  think  it  strange  that  we 
have  not  made  a  formal  surrender  of  our  lines." 

The  flag  of  thirteen  stripes  which  symbolized 
a  union  of  the  thirteen  colonists,  and  was  first 
unfurled  at  Cambridge,  received  considerable  rec- 
ognition during  the  year  1776.  It  is  said  that 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.          25 

when  Commodore  Esek  Hopkins'  American  fleet 
sailed  from  Philadelphia  in  February  of  that 
year,  he  did  so  "amidst  the  acclamation  of  thou- 
sands assembled  on  the  joyful  occasion,  with  the 
display  of  a  Union  flag  with  thirteen  stripes  em- 
blematical of  the  thirteen  colonies." 

The  Crescent  Flag  and  Sergeant 
Jasper. 

The  most  famous  of  the  flags  used  in  the  South 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
which  was  peculiarly  American,  was  designed  by 
Colonel  William  Moultrie,  who  commanded  the 
Second  South  Carolina  infantry.  In  1775  he  be- 
gan to  prepare  for  the  defense  of  Charleston,  and 
when  planning  to  make  an  assault  on  Fort  Jack- 
son, on  James  Island,  he  felt  the  need  of  a  banner 
to  pilot  and  cheer  his  men.  He  designed  an 
ensign  of  blue,  with  a  white  crescent  in  the  upper 
corner  near  the  staff,  and  this  was  the  first  Amer- 
ican flag  hoisted  in  the  South.  Sometimes  the 
word  "Liberty"  was  inscribed  upon  it. 

With  these  colors  a  body  of  patriots  captured 
the  fort,  and  afterwards  it  inspired  Moultrie's 
command  to  drive  the  British  out  of  Charleston 
Harbor.  It  was  this  flag  that  called  forth  the 
remarkable  heroism  of  Sergeant  William  Jasper. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Second  South  Carolina 
regiment,  and  was  in  Fort  Moultrie  on  Sullivan's 


26         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Island  in  the  main  entrance  to  Charleston  when, 
on  the  twenty-eighth  of  June,  1776,  the  British 
squadron  poured  a  tempest  of  balls  on  the  fort. 
In  the  hottest  of  the  fire  the  flag  of  the  fort  was 
shot  down  and  fell  over  the  ramparts.  Jasper 
leaped  fearlessly  through  an  embrasure,  recovered 
the  colors  and  held  them  in  his  hand  on  the  par- 
apet of  the  fort  until  another  staff  was  found. 
His  heroism  was  recognized  by  Governor  Hut- 
ledge,  who  gave  him  his  own  sword,  and  offered 
him  a  lieutenant's  commission,  but  the  promotion 
was  refused  by  Jasper  on  the  ground  that  he  could 
neither  read  nor  write.  In  the  assault  by  the 
British  on  Savannah  on  the  ninth  of  October, 
1779,  Jasper  received  a  mortal  wound  while  mak- 
ing an  effort  to  fasten  the  flag  to  the  parapet. 
Georgia  has  not  forgotten  Sergeant  Jasper's  pa- 
triotism and  bravery.  A  square  in  the  city  of 
Savannah,  and  a  county  in  the  state,  bear  his 
name. 

Flags  of  Many  Kinds. 

For  the  first  two  years  of  the  Revolution  there 
was  no  sort  of  uniformity  of  battle-flags  either  on 
land  or  sea.  Designs  varying  from  the  serious 
to  the  comic  were  displayed  by  the  ever  patriotic 
and  hopeful  colonists.  The  Cambridge  flag, 
though  the  nearest  approach  to  what  may  be  called 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         27 

a  National  flag  that  had  been  made  up  to  that 
time,  was  not  wholly  American,  and  was  not 
authorized  by  the  American  Congress.  One  em- 
blem of  supreme  importance  was  lacking.  The 
crosses  of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew,  which  were 
emblematic  of  the  union  of  England  and  Scotland, 
were  a  misrepresentation  of  the  aspirations  of 
the  American  colonists. 

Let  us  see  what  kind  of  flags  were  in  use 
during  those  two  eventful  years.  The  rattlesnake 
was  not  an  uncommon  emblem  on  flags,  especially 
those  carried  by  cruisers.  The  first  commodore 
of  the  navy  was  Esek  Hopkins,  who  was  made 
commander-in-chief  of  a  fleet  of  seventeen  vessels 
late  in  the  autumn  of  1775 ;  and  with  his  com- 
mission Congress  gave  him  a  salary  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  dollars  a  month  for  his  ser- 
vices !  The  commodore  made  several  important 
captures  early  in  the  war,  but  was  unfortunate  in 
his  relation  with  his  officers.  Charges  were  pre- 
ferred against  him  by  his  enemies,  and  neglecting 
to  respond  to  a  citation  to  appear  before  a  naval 
committee  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  dismissed  from 
the  service  in  January,  1777. 

In  August,  1776,  a  portrait  of  the  commodore 
was  printed  in  London,  in  the  background  of 
which  appears  a  portion  of  his  fleet.  On  his  right 
is  a  flag  of  thirteen  stripes,  without  a  union,  a 
rattle-snake  undulates  diagonally  across  the  sur- 


28 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


face,  and  underneath  is  the  defiant  motto,  "Don't 
tread  on  me."  On  the  left  of  Commodore  Hop- 
kins is  a  second  flag 
with  a  plain  ground,  a 
tree  in  the  centre,  and 
above  it  are  the  words, 
"Liberty  Tree" ;  and  on 
the  lower  margin  is  the 
sentiment  found  on 
many  flags  of  that  pe- 
riod, "An  Appeal  to 
God." 


Liberty  Tree  Flag, 
1776. 


Paul  Jones  and  His  Flag. 

A  great  deal  of  interesting  history  is  connected 
with  the  naval  career  of  John  Paul  Jones,  who 
can  aptly  be  called  the  most  daring  sea-rover  in 
the  annals  of  the  American  navy.  His  devotion 
to  the  flag  under  which  he  so  valiantly  fought,  is 
as  unquestionable  as  his  fearlessness.  In  Mr. 
Augustus  C.  Buell's  excellent  life  of  the  commo- 
dore he  notes  that  enthusiasts  have  credited  him 
with  being  "the  first  to  hoist  the  flag  on  an  Amer- 
ican man-of-war;  first  to  show  it  upon  the  sea; 
first  to  receive  and  acknowledge  a  salute  to  it  from 
a  foreign  power ;  first  to  fight  a  naval  battle  under 
it;  and  first  to  decorate  with  it  a  man-of-war  of 
the  enemy  taken  prize  in  action."  Jones  was  a 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         29 

great  sea-fighter,  had  won  many  victories  under 
the  flag  to  which  he  was  so  deeply  devoted,  and  was 
a  high-born  patriot,  but  he  was  not  without  a 
commendable  degree  of  modesty,  and  never 
claimed  for  himself  more  honor  than  even-handed 
justice  would  award  him.  In  the  course  of  these 
pages  I  think  the  reader  will  be  particularly  inter- 
ested in  the  story  of  Paul  Jones'  connection  with 
the  flag  which  he  honored  with  wondrous  deeds. 

Paul  Jones  was  made  a  first  lieutenant  of  the 
infant  navy  on  the  twenty-second  of  December, 
1775.  The  commission  was  presented  to  him  by 
John  Hancock  in  person,  in  the  old  Hall  of  Inde- 
pendence, in  Philadelphia.  Upon  receiving  his 
commission  Lieutenant  Jones,  in  company  with 
John  Hancock,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  several 
other  distinguished  persons,  went  aboard  the 
Alfred — the  flag-ship  of  Commander  Hopkins — 
which  anchored  first  off  Chestnut  wharf.  Cap- 
tain Saltonstall,  commander  of  the  vessel,  being 
temporarily  absent,  Hancock  directed  the  lieuten- 
ant to  take  command  pro  tempore.  In  obeying 
this  order  Jones  flung  to  the  breeze  an.  ensign 
which  has  been  called  the  first  "flag  of  America" 
ever  shown  on  a  regular  man-of-war.  It  was  not 
the  Stars  and  Stripes,  but  very  likely  was  a  com- 
bination of  the  pine  tree  and  the  rattle-snake,  the 
tree  in  the  centre  and  the  snake  coiled  around  its 
base  in  an  attitude  to  strike,  and  below  was  the 


30 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


motto,  "Don't  tread  on  me."     Jones  did  not  like 
the  flag,  and  once  spoke  of  it  in  his  journal: 

"For  my  own  part 
I  could  never  see  how 
or  why  a  venemous  ser- 
pent could  be  the  com- 
batant emblem  of  a 
brave  and  honest  folk, 
fighting  to  be  free.  Of 
course  I  had  no  choice 
but  to  break  the  pen- 
Flag  of  the  Alfred.  nant  as  it  was  given  to 

me.  But  I  always  ab- 
horred the  device  and  was  glad  when  it  was  dis- 
carded for  one  much  more  symmetrical  as  well  as 
appropriate,  a  year  or  so  later." 

From  the  day  of  the  Alfred  incident  to  the 
immortal  success  of  the  sinking  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  the  name  of  no  other  man  is  so  closely 
and  interestingly  associated  with  the  American 
flag  as  that  of  John  Paul  Jones.  There  has  been 
much  discussion  in  late  years  as  to  the  character  of 
the  flag  he  hoisted  over  the  Alfred.  Mr.  Buell, 
whose  life  of  Jones  is  one  of  the  latest,  and  I  ven- 
ture to  say  one  of  the  most  reliable,  says  it  was 
the  pine  tree,  the  rattle-snake,  and  the  motto  al- 
ready mentioned;  but  the  late  Admiral  Preble, 
whose  authority  on  flags  of  all  nations  is  some- 
time hard  to  question,  thinks  there  is  good  reason 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         31 

for  supposing  that  the  "flag  of  America"  which 
Jones  unfurled  on  the  Alfred  was  the  union  flag 
of  thirteen  stripes  which  Washington  hoisted  at 
Cambridge  nearly  two  weeks  after  the  event 
aboard  Hopkins'  flag-ship.  He  also  suggests  that 
the  snake  flag  mentioned  by  Jones  was  the  ad- 
miral's flag  used  by  Hopkins  and  designed  by 
Colonel  Gadsden.  Professor  Edward  S.  Holden, 
in  his  excellent  little  story  of  the  flag  for  school 
children,  adopts  the  admiral's  theory  regarding 
the  Alfred's  flag  when  Jones  broke  the  pennant; 
but  his  reason  therefor  is  kept  in  the  dark. 

In  the  Encyclopedia  of  American  History, 
edited  by  Lossing,  and  published  by  the  Harpers, 
is  an  illustration  of  Paul  Jones  hoisting  the  "first 
flag  of  America"  aboard  the  Alfred.  There  is  no 
visible  trace  of  any  emblem  on  the  flag  except  that 
of  a  rattle-snake  undulating  upon  a  white  field.  It 
is  unfortunate  that  the  editor  should  embellish  a 
page  of  that  great  work  by  a  meaningless  cut,  when 
it  should  have  been  his  aim  to  represent  fairly  an 
important  historical  fact. 

Some  writers  claim  that  the  Alfred's  flag  was 
the  pine  tree,  with  the  coiled  snake  around  its  base, 
and  above  the  figures  was  the  motto,  "An  appeal 
to  Heaven,"  and  below  was  the  timely  admon- 
ition, "Don't  tread  on  me."  Other  "historians" 
affirm  that  the  Alfred  was  seen  to  carry  a  flag  of 
thirteen  stripes  with  the  undulating  snake,  and  on 


32          OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

the  lower  white  stripe  was  the  popular  defiant 
motto.  General  Schuyler  Hamilton,  who  fifty 
years  ago  wrote  the  history  of  the  National  flag, 
considers  it  quite  possible  that  the  flag  Jones  flung 
to  the  breeze  on  the  Alfred,  had  a  yellow  ground 
with  a  coiled  snake  in  the  middle,  and  under  it 
the  battle-brand,  "Don't  tread  on  me." 

The  "flag  of  America"  at  that  particular  time 
seems  to  have  meant  any  sort  of  a  flag  which  dif- 
fered in  every  feature  from  the  British  union 
jack;  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Lieuten- 
ant Jones  knew  nothing  of  the  Cambridge  flag 
when  he  "broke  the  pennant"  on  the  Alfred,  for 
no  account  of  its  appearance  in  Philadelphia  prior 
to  February,  1776,  can  be  found. 

Gadsden9  s  Standard. 

A  flag  about  which  clusters  a  peculiar  interest 
was  designed  by  Colonel  Christopher  Gadsden 
while  he  was  engaged  in  the  defense  of  Charleston. 
He  was  a  wealthy  merchant,  and  was  known  as 
the  frank,  fearless  Gadsden.  He  was  eminent 
in  scholarship,  and  read  the  Bible  in  languages 
in  which  it  was  originally  written.  In  1782  he 
was  elected  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  but  de- 
clined to  serve  on  account  of  impaired  health.  The 
flag  of  which  he  was  proud  had  a  bright  yellow 
field,  and  in  the  centre  was  a  coiled  rattle-snake 
ready  to  strike  if  attacked,  and  below  was  the 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


33 


common  motto.     In  February,  1776,  while  a  mem- 
ber of  the  naval  committee,  the  colonel  presented 
the  flag  to  Congress  with  the  expressed  wish  that 
it  might  be  designated 
as  the  flag  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the 
navy.     But  the  only  ac- 
tion  Congress   took   in 
relation  to  the  matter 
was  to  thank  Gadsden 
for   his    patriotic   gift, 
and    suspend    the    ban- 
ner   in    the    "Congress         Gadsden's  Flag,  1776. 
rooms."     The  "elegant 

standard,"  as  the  colonel  was  pleased  to  call  it, 
decorated  the  hall  of  Congress  for  some  years, 
but  eventually  it  was  removed  by  stealth,  and  all 
trace  of  it  was  lost.  By  what  authority  General 
Hamilton  can  say  that  the  Gadsden  flag  was  the 
one  hoisted  on  the  Alfred,  is  not  known.  Jones' 
flag  bore  the  pine  tree — Gadsden's  did  not. 

Pine  Tree  Flags. 

There  were  several  varieties  of  pine  tree  flags 
in  the  early  part  of  the  Revolution,  but  the  asser- 
tion that  the  tree  was  officially  adopted  as  a  flag 
emblem  by  the  Continental  Congress  in  October, 
1775,  cannot  be  verified  by  the  records  of  that 
body. 


34         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

John  Adams,  who  became  President,  and  who 
thought  Jones  was  the  most  ambitious  and  in- 
triguing officer  in  the  American  navy,  claimed  that 
the  honor  of  unfurling  the  first  American  flag  on 
a  battle-ship,  should  be  awarded  to  Captain  John 
Manly,  who  captured  the  British  vessel  Nancy , 
in  November,  1775.  Upon  what  evidence  Adams 
should  make  this  claim  is  not  produced.  Manly 
did  not  hold  a  commission  from  Congress  when  he 
commanded  the  Lee  in  1775.  The  vessel  was  not 
a  man-of-war,  but  a  schooner  engaged  in  the  busi- 
ness of  privateering,  and  was  no  part  of  the 
Continental  navy.  It  is  doubtful,  furthermore, 
if  the  Lee  carried  any  colonial  flag  at  all,  but  if 
it  did,  no  record  of  it  has  been  preserved. 

Laying  aside  all  contentions  as  to  whether 
the  New  England  flag  was  presented  at  Bunker 
Hill,  the  earliest  use  of  the  pine  tree  on  American 
flags  of  which  we  have  any  positive  authority,  was 
on  the  banner  presented  to  General  Putnam  on 
Prospect  Hill  on  the  eighteenth  of  July,  1775. 
If  we  can  take  Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the  Revo- 
lution into  our  confidence,  the  two  powerful  co- 
lonial floating  batteries  which  opened  fire  on  Bos- 
ton in  October,  1775,  displayed  the  pine  tree  flag. 
Several  cruisers  were  sent  to  sea  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year  under  the  pine  tree  flag  and  without  any 
provision  for  a  National  ensign.  About  the  same 
time  the  floating  batteries  on  the  Delaware — • 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


35 


equipped  by  the  liberality  and  patriotism  of 
Pennsylvania — also  carried  the  pine  tree  banner. 
The  council  of  Massachusetts  adopted  a  resolu- 
tion early  in  1776,  which  provided  that  colors  for 
the  sea  service  should  be  a  pine  tree  in  the  centre, 
and  above  it  the  fervent  expression  of  the  colonists, 
"An  appeal  to  Heaven." 

In  Drake's  History  of  Boston,  he  says  the  pine 
tree  on  the  New  England  flags  no  more  represents 
a  pine  tree  than  a  cabbage.  Perhaps  this  can  be 
called  hyperbolical  criticism ;  and  whatever  Drake 
may  have  thought  concerning  the  lack  of  accuracy 
in  reproducing  the  pine  tree  on  flags  which  were 
designed  to  express  unity  among  the  colonists 
and  inspire  the  army  of  the  Revolution  with  cour- 
age, the  simple  emblem 
was  a  power  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  struggle 
for  American  liberty. 
The  pine  tree  was  so 
much  in  mind  as  a  pa- 
triotic symbol  in  those 
days  that  Colonel  Jo- 
seph Reed,  Washing- 
ton's military  secretary, 
requested  Colonels 
Stephen  Moylan  and 

John  Glover,  who  were  in  the  service  in  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  "to  fix  upon  some  particular  color  for  a 


Flag  of  the  Floating  Batter- 
ies, 1776. 


36          OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

flag,  and  a  signal  by  which  American  vessels  could 
be  recognized  by  each  other."  He  then  suggests : 
"What  do  you  think  of  a  flag  with  a  white  ground 
and  a  tree  in  the  middle  with  the  motto,  'An  ap- 
peal to  heaven'  ?  This  is  the  flag  of  our  floating 
batteries."  The  flag  which  was  suggested  by 
Colonel  Reed  on  the  twentieth  of  October,  1775, 
was  borne  by  the  New  Hampshire  and  Massachu- 
setts regiments ;  and  our  lamented  historian,  John 
Fiske,  says  the  same  colors  were  carried  by  most 
naval  vessels  until  the  adoption  of  the  new  flag  in 
June,  1777. 

Among  the  many  interesting  incidents  in  the 
life  of  Commodore  Samuel  Tucker,  is  one  which 
is  inseparable  from  the  flag.  Washington  com- 
missioned him  a  captain  in  January,  1776,  and 
placed  him  in  command  of  the  armed  schooner 
Franklin.  The  severe  need  of  money  for  strength- 
ening the  navy  at  that  time  is  shown  in  the  fact 
that  all  the  small  arms  necessary  for  the  vessel 
had  to  be  bought  and  paid  for  out  of  the  captain's 
private  funds.  The  Franklin  had  no  banner  of 
any  kind,  and,  acting  upon  Colonel  Reed's  sug- 
gestion as  to  the  design,  Mrs.  Tucker  made  a  flag 
with  a  white  ground  and  a  green  union  containing 
a  pine  tree,  and  furnished  all  the  material  at  her 
own  expense.  The  crowning  result  of  Tucker's 
zealous  patriotism  and  great  seamanship,  was  the 
capture,  within  a  few  weeks,  of  the  British  vessels 


Westmoreland  County  Flag.  Pulaski  Banner— 1778, 


Rattltstuikt   b'la — 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         37 

George  and  Arabella,  and  before  the  close  of  1776, 
while  sailing  under  the  home-made  flag,  his  cap- 
tures of  ships  of  various  grades,  numbered  not  far 
from  thirty.  His  career  on  the  sea  was  remark- 
ably successful;  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1833,  he  was,  excepting  General  Lafayette,  the 
highest  in  rank  of  surviving  officers  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

Some  Peculiar  Flags. 

An  erroneous  claim  has  been  made  that  there 
is  no  authentic  account  of  a  snake  flag  being  car- 
ried into  battle  by  the  army  during  the  Revolution. 
Colonel  John  Proctor  commanded  a  brigade  from 
Westmoreland  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  flag 
peculiar  to  his  troops  had  a  white  ground.  It 
bore  the  crosses  of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew 
in  the  canton,  and  in  the  centre  was  the  familiar 
rattle-snake  coiled  and  in  the  attitude  to  strike  the 
union  jack;  and  below  the  reptile  was  the  motto 
common  to  such  flags.  This  flag  was  unfurled  on 
the  victorious  battlefield  of  Trenton,  December 
twenty-sixth,  1776 ;  Princeton,  January  third, 
1777  ;  and  was  carried  on  through  the  Revolution. 
For  many  years  the  same  flag  was  in  possession 
of  Mrs.  Margaret  C.  Craig  of  New  Alexandria, 
Pennsylvania;  but  recently  the  author  received  a 
letter  from  Miss  Jane  M.  Craig,  saying  that  since 
her  grandmother's  death,  which  occurred  four 


38 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


years  previous,  the  famous  colonial  flag  is  now 
in  the  care  of  her  mother,  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Craig. 
Miss  Craig  writes  that  the  Proctor  flag  was  pre- 
sented to  General  Alexander  Craig  almost  a  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  that  its  present  possessor  is 
his  granddaughter. 

Another  flag  quite  as  unique  as  the  one  just  de- 
scribed was  used  in  Virginia.  The  Culpepper 
minute-men  of  that  colony  were  part  of  a  regiment 
commanded  by  Patrick  Henry  in  the  latter  part  of 
1775.  Their  flag  bore  the  snake  device,  accom- 
panied by  the  warning  motto,  and  Henry's  stirring 
words,  "Liberty  or  Death."  On  a  scroll  running 

lengthwise  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  flag  were  the 
words,  "Culpepper  min- 
ute-men." The  men 
were  as  peculiar  as  their 
banner.  They  wore 
green  hunting  shirts, 
with  "Liberty  or  Death" 
in  large  white  letters 
on  their  bosoms ;  and  in 

their  belts  were  tomahawks  and  scalping  knives. 
They  fought  the  battle  of  Great  Bridge  (Norfolk), 
December  ninth,  1775,  in  which  only  one  Ameri- 
can was  lost,  while  the  loss  of  the  enemy  was  be- 
tween fifty  and  sixty. 

The  rattle-snake  device  which  found  a  place 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         39 

on  so  many  flags  for  the  army  and  navy  before  the 
adoption  of  the  stars  and  stripes  in  June,  1777, 
may  have  been  suggested  in  Benjamin  Franklin's 
printing  office  as  far  back  as  1754,  when  he  pub- 
lished the  Pennsylvania  Gazette.  In  urging  mu- 
tual defense  against  the  Indians  he  illustrated  his 
idea  in  a  wood-cut — a  snake  divided  into  ten  parts 
(not  thirteen,  as  some  publications  have  it),  with 
the  legend,  "Unite  or  die."  This  was  a  practical 
suggestion  concerning  the  duty  of  unity  in  time  of 
threatened  danger;  and  twenty  years  later,  when 
the  spirit  of  independence  took  root  in  all  the  col- 
onies, Franklin's  idea,  with  some  necessary  mod- 
ifications, as  the  previous  pages  show,  was  largely 
popularized. 

There  were  many  other  flags  and  banners  used 
by  the  colonial  army  contemporaneous  with  those 
already  described,  a  few  of  which  are  here  men- 
tioned. The  Morgan  Rifles  adopted  a  flag  on 
which  the  date  "1776"  was  placed  in  the  field, 
and  surrounded  by  a  wreath  of  laurel  was  the 
inscription  "XI.  Virginia  Regiment,"  and  the 
words  "Morgan  Rifle  Corps." 

Count  Casimir  Pulaski,  whose  father  per- 
ished in  a  dungeon  for  advocating  the  cause  of 
Polish  liberty,  came  to  this  country  at  the  upris- 
ing of  the  American  colonists,  and  joined  the  army 
of  Washington.  When  engaged  in  organizing  a 
corps  of  cavalry  at  Baltimore,  the  Moravian  Sis- 


40         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

ters  at  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  made  Pulaski 
a  banner  and  sent  it  to  him  "with  their  blessing." 
It  was  of  rich  crimson  silk,  and  was  emblazoned 
with  emblems.  The  banner  was  carried  in  the 
fatal  assault  on  Savannah,  Georgia,  October  ninth, 

1779,  when  Count  Pulaski,  commanding  both  the 
French    and    American    cavalry,    fell    mortally 
wounded,  dying  two  days  later. 

A  Flag  with  a  Beautiful  Story. 

Colonel  William  Washington,  a  kinsman  of 
General  Washington,  was  commander  of  a  cavalry 
force,  and  in  1780  was  ordered  to  South  Carolina. 
The  story  of  the  flag  which  led  his  command  into 
several  battles,  is  romantic  and  interesting.  Soon 
after  Colonel  Washington  went  to  Carolina,  he 
became  acquainted  with  Miss  Jane  Elliot,  whose 
family  lived  ten  miles  west  of  Charleston.  Be- 
tween the  two  a  friendship  was  formed  which 
easily  ripened  into  mutual  love.  A  happy  cir- 
cumstance made  it  convenient  for  the  colonel  to 
pay  a  brief  visit  to  his  fiancee  in  the  autumn  of 

1780,  and  when  about  to  take  his  departure,  Miss 
Elliott  expressed  the  wish  that  she  might  soon 
hear  good  news  of  his  "flag  and  fortune."     But 
the  colonel  replied  that  his  corps  had  no  flag.     It 
is  never  by  accident  that  love  and  a  noble  purpose 
meet.     The  young  patriot,  as  if  by  a  motive  in- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


41 


spired,  took  her  scissors  and  quickly  cut  from  a 
large  red  damask  curtain  a  portion  sufficient  to 
make  a  banner  of  fair  size,  and  when  it  was  prop- 
erly fringed,  and  attached  to  the  curtain-pole,  she 
presented  it  to  him  with  the  remark,  "Take  this, 
Colonel,  and  make  it  your  standard." 

The  flag's  first  victory  was  at  Cowpens,  Jan- 
uary seventeenth,  1781,  and  it  also  led  Colonel 
Washington's  forces  at  Eutaw  Springs  on  the 
sighth  of  the  fol- 
lowing September, 
when  it  became 
familiarly  known 
as  the  Eutaw  flag, 
although  the  bat- 
tle is  said  to  have 
been  a  technical 
victory  for  the 
British.  The  flag 
was  displayed  at 
the  centennial  of 
the  battle  of  Cow- 
pens  in  1881.  It 
is  the  property  of 
the  Washington 
Light  Infantry  of 
Charleston,  and 

was  presented  to  them  in  1827  by  the  same  hands 
with  which  it  was  so  quickly  and  singularly  made, 
forty-seven  years  before. 


42         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Other  flags  and  banners,  peculiar  to  the  various 
colonies,  could  be  described  if  the  scope  of  the  vol- 
ume would  permit.  All  were  not  of  equal  conse- 
quence in  an  historic  sense,  but  it  can  be  safely 
said  that  all  of  them  served  a  good  purpose  in  that 
long  and  hard  struggle  which  was  carried  on  with 
steadfast  courage  and  sublime  patriotism,  and 
finally  accomplished  American  independence. 


A  GREAT   HISTORIC    EVENT. 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  FIRST  STAR 
SPANGLED   BANNER. 

ATUKDAY,  the  fourteenth  day  of 
June,  1777,  marked  the  beginning  of 
great  things  for  the  American  colo- 
nists. For  two  years  the  grand  little 
army  of  the  Revolution  had  been  fighting  bravely 
and  hopefully  with  varying  fortunes,  and  in  all 
that  time  Congress  did  not  say  a  single  word 
about  a  flag.  Evidently,  some  master-spirit  of 
the  Revolution  finally  became  sensible  of  the  un- 
wisdom of  the  confusion  of  flags  and  banners 
which  had  existed  in  the  army  and  navy  from  the 
commencement  of  the  war;  and  a  new  standard 
was  fixed  in  his  mind  that  would  arise  like  a  day- 
star  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  first  authoritative  action  to  establish  and 
legalize  a  National  flag  is  fraught  with  peculiar 
interest.  If  we  take  actual  history  for  our  guide, 


44         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

no  one  knows  who  suggested  either  the  stars  or 
the  stripes.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  what 
prophet  stood  up  in  the  Continental  Congress  on 
Saturday  morning,  the  fourteenth  of  June,  1777, 
and  called  for  the  adoption  of  the  resolution 
which  declared  that  "the  flag  of  the  thirteen 
United  States  be  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red 
and  white ;  that  the  union  be  thirteen  stars,  white, 
in  a  blue  field,  representing  a  new  constellation." 
That  was  a  memorable  day  in  American  history. 
It  brought  into  being  ,a  genuine  American  flag 
that  was  to  challenge  the  respect  of  all  the  powers 
of  the  earth,  and  became  the  emblem  of  more 
glorious  deeds  than  any  other  flag  in  history. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  debate  on  the  flag 
resolution.  Everything  that  was  necessary  to  be 
said  or  done  to  reach  the  supreme  event  of  that 
historic  Saturday  morning  is  now  forgotten.  All 
that  we  can  judge  is  that  the  flag  raised  by  Wash- 
ington at  Cambridge  in  January,  1776,  was  con- 
sidered deficient  by  the  American  Congress.  The 
standard  had  become  obsolete.  The  colonies  were 
growing  in  strength.  There  were  no  unfulfilled 
hopes.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  had 
been  made.  A  flag  was  wanted  to  harmonize  with 
the  growing  spirit  of  Americanism,  one  that  would 
beautifully  symbolize  the  aspirations  of  the  thir- 
teen United  States. 

In  the  very  hour  that  a  new  flag  was  ordained 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         45 

another  event  of  great  import  is  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  the  American  Congress.  It  would  seem 
as  if  Congress  "had  kept  an  eye  on  Paul  Jones." 
Within  a  few  minutes  after  the  flag  resolution  was 
adopted,  Captain  John  Roach  was  released  from 
the  command  of  the  Continental  ship-of-war 
Ranger,  and  Captain  Jones  was  appointed  com- 
mander in  his  stead.  Professor  Theodore  W. 
Dwight  of  Columbia  Law  School,  New  York  City, 
says  the  circumstance  that  the  flag,  ordained  on  the 
same  day  with  the  appointment  of  Paul  Jones 
without  any  intervening  act  (save  one),  was  not 
accidental.  "It  was  of  set,  deliberate  purpose. 
The  achievements  of  the  Ranger  were  thencefor- 
ward among  the  most  stirring  events  of  our  his- 
tory." But  this  matter  will  be  referred  to  later  on. 

The  Flag  and  Betsy  Ross. 

We  cannot  escape  more  or  less  difficulty  when 
we  search  for  light  as  to  who  designed  and  man- 
ufactured the  first  flag  bearing  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  The  popular  story  bestows  the  honor 
upon  Mrs.  Betsy  Ross.  It  is  alleged  that  Con- 
gress appointed  a  committee  composed  of  General 
Washington,  Robert  Morris,  and  George  Ross  to 
design  a  flag.  These  gentlemen  called  upon  Mrs. 
Ross  in  the  month  of  May  or  June,  1776,  and 
commissioned  her  to  make  the  first  flag  with  thir- 


46         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

teen  stars  to  harmonize  with  the  thirteen  stripes 
which  had  been  placed  on  the  standard  raised  at 
Cambridge  six  months  previous.  Mrs.  Ross  en- 
joyed the  reputation  of  being  a  needlewoman  of 
superior  skill,  and  was  the  owner  of  an  upholstery 
shop  at  her  little  home,  No.  239  Arch  Street,  Phil- 
adelphia. The  story  runs  that  General  Washing- 
ton made  an  imperfect  drawing  of  a  flag  which 
embodied  the  stripes  and  the  new  constellation 
afterwards  provided  by  Congress.  The  thirteen 
stars  in  the  circle  were  six-pointed,  and  being  pe- 
culiar to  the  British,  Mrs.  Ross  suggested  that  a 
star  of  five  points  would  be  more  symmetrical  and 
appropriate,  and  the  committee  adopted  it. 

This  story  of  the  making  of  the  first  stars  and 
stripes  as  early  as  1776,  comes  from  William  J. 
Canby,  a  grandson  of  Mrs.  Ross.  In  1870  he 
read  a  paper  on  the  American  flag  before  the 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  in  which  he  says 
that  when  a  little  boy  his  grandmother  related  to 
him  the  particulars  concerning  the  making  of  the 


In  contemporaneous  accounts  of  flag-making 
by  Mrs.  Ross  there  is  not  a  single  recorded  in- 
stance that  a  flag  with  stars  was  used  during  any 
portion  of  1776.  If  Washington  had  assisted 
Mrs.  Ross  in  designing  the  flag  at  the  time  given 
by  Mr.  Canby,  surely  the  patriotism  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army  would  have  inspired 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         47 

him  to  raise  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  when  he 
caused  the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  be  read 
to  his  assembled  troops  in  New  York  on  the  tenth 
of  July  following.  That  event  was  six  or  seven 
weeks  after  Washington  is  said  to  have  ordered 
the  flag  of  Mrs.  Ross ;  and  yet  when  the  American 
troops  in  New  York  heard  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence read,  the  Cambridge  flag,  half  British 
and  half  American,  was  unfurled.  Evidently,  the 
Star  Spangled  Banner  had  not  been  born. 

Some  other  facts  should  be  considered  in  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Canby's  statements.  The  annals 
of  the  American  Congress  do  not  say  that  any  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  design  a  flag.  Washing- 
ton made  no  note  of  a  visit  to  Mrs.  Ross'  house, 
and  his  writings  do  not  contain  a  word  that  sug- 
gests when,  where,  or  by  whom  the  first  American 
flag  was  made.  Neither  do  any  of  the  distinguished 
historians  of  the  Revolutionary  period  give  us 
light  on  this  question.  The  newspapers  of  Phil- 
adelphia, issued  at  that  time,  did  not  chronicle 
any  portion  of  the  story  as  told  by  Mr.  Canby.  It 
recorded  however  on  good  authority  that  Mrs. 
Ross  made  State  colors  for  vessels  and  batteries 
prior  to  June  fourteenth,  1777,  but  it  was  not 
until  after  the  stars  and  stripes  were  ordained  that 
she  became  a  Government  flag-maker. 

Recently  a  statement  went  out  in  the  public 
prints  that  Washington  was  in  Philadelphia  in 


48         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

June,  1777,  to  receive  instructions  from  Congress, 
and  on  this  occasion  he  designed  the  first  flag,  and 
that  body  immediately  adopted  the  famous  reso- 
lution which  made  his  design  the  legalized  Na- 
tional flag.  But  this  is  not  history.  Washington 
was  with  the  army  at  Middlebrook,  New  Jersey, 
continuously  from  the  latter  part  of  May  to  July 
second,  of  that  year. 

There  is  hardly  anything  more  surprising 
than  the  things  which  people  generally  do  not 
know,  and  among  those  causes  of  astonishment 
in  this  country  is  the  prevailing  lack  of  knowledge 
concerning  the  origin  of  the  American  flag. 

However  much  we  may  live  in  uncertainty  as 
to  how  the  Nation's  flag  was  born,  we  do  know 
that  it  was  a  new  creation  to  symbolize  American 
patriotism  and  independence,  and  from  the  third 
day  of  September,  1777,  when  the  act  of  June  the 
fourteenth  was  officially  promulgated,  the  Star 
Spangled  Banner  was  inseparably  associated  with 
the  army  of  the  Revolution  in  all  its  trying  ex- 
periences, its  defeats  and  victories,  and  final 
triumph. 

How  the  Stars  and   Stripes    Came 
Into    Being. 

A  great  many  theories  have  been  advanced  in 
late  years  relative  to  the  origin  of  the  stars  and 
stripes  which  beautify  our  flag.  Numerous  news- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         49 

papers,  magazines,  and  books  have  sought  to  en- 
lighten the  public  on  this  question,  but  little  that 
is  reliable  has  been  learned  from  such  contribu- 
tions. Some  very  important  events  of  history  are 
involved  in  mystery,  so  is  the  combination  of  the 
stripes  and  stars  which  make  "Old  Glory"  the 
most  beautiful  banner  in  the  world.  Much  has 
been  said  in  favor  of  the  theory  that  they  were 
taken  from  Washington's  coat-of-arms,  but  it  is 
hard  to  reconcile  this  supposition  with  the  actual 
history  of  the  flag.  A  hint  has  come  from  some 
writers  that  the  thirteen  stripes  in  the  canton  of 
the  banner  of  the  Philadelphia  troop  of  Light- 
horse,  which  Washington  first  saw  in  June,  1775, 
were  a  suggestion  for  stripes  in  the  flag  hoisted 
at  Cambrige  six  months  later.  While  this  seems 
to  be  quite  possible,  it  is  not  accepted  as  conclusive 
by  reliable  historians  of  the  flag.  Perhaps  the 
most  rational  explanation  why  the  stars  were 
chosen  is  that  they,  of  all  other  devices,  more  ap- 
propriately symbolize  the  elevated  purposes  and 
lofty  motives  of  the  republic. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  became 
of  the  first  flag  made  under  the  act  of  Congress 
in  1777.  Was  it  raised  in  defense  of  American 
liberty  ?  Was  it  baptized  by  fire  on  the  field  of 
battle  ?  It  has  been  claimed  that  it  was  borne  on 
the  field  of  Brandywine,  September  eleventh, 
1777,  when  it  went  down  to  defeat  against  a  supe- 


50         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

rior  force;  but  the  opinion  that  this  was  the  first 
flag  has  not  attained  to  any  weight  of  character. 

The  Flag  at  Fort  Schuyler. 

There  can  scarcely  be  any  doubt  that  the 
earliest  use  of  the  new  flag  in  battle  was  at  Fort 
Stanwix,  re-named  Schuyler,  built  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  city  of  Rome,  New  York.  The 
fort  was  without  a  flag  or  banner  of  any  sort,  and 
was  invested  by  the  British  on  the  second  of 
August,  1777.  The  event  suggested  to  Com- 
mandant Peter  Gansevoort  and  his  brave  officers 
and  men,  that  they  needed  the  inspiring  force  in 
an  unfurled  flag.  They  had  heard  that  six  weeks 
before  Congress  had  created  a  new  flag,  and 
being  determined  to  fight  with  American  colors 
flying,  Lossing  tells  us  in  his  Field-Book  of  the 
Revolution,  that  shirts  were  cut  up  to  form  the 
white  stripes,  pieces  of  scarlet  cloth  were  joined 
for  the  red,  and  the  blue  ground  for  the  stars  was 
made  of  a  cloth  cloak  belonging  to  Captain  Abra- 
ham Swartwout  of  Dutchess  County,  who  was  then 
in  the  fort.  Before  the  sun  went  down  on  that  day 
a  unique  flag — the  genuine  stars  and  stripes — was 
waving  over  Fort  Stanwix.  The  courageous  band 
of  six  hundred  Americans  pluckily  resisted  the 
siege  for  twenty  days,  when  the  flag,  so  curiously 
jvrought,  waved  in  triumph  over  the  fort.. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.          51 

Many  events  of  the  Revolution  have  been  dis- 
cussed from  various  and  conflicting  view-points, 
and  it  would  be  strange  indeed  if  there  were  not 
someone  to  challenge  Lossing's  account  of  the  mak- 
ing of  the  Fort  Schuyler  flag.  Colonel  Marinus 
Willett,  second  in  command  at  the  fort,  led,  on 
the  sixth  of  August,  a  successful  sally  against 
the  main  force  of  Colonel  Bary  St.  Leger  which 
resulted  in  the  battle  of  Oriskany  (some  five  or 
six  miles  from  the  fort),  which  the  late  historian, 
John  Fiske,  says  was  the  most  murderous  battle 
of  the  Revolution.  The  colonel  says:  "The 
white  stripes  of  the  flag  were  cut  out  of  ammuni- 
tion shirts,  furnished  by  the  soldiers;  the  blue 
out  of  the  camlet  cloak  taken  away  from  the  enemy 
at  Peekskill;  while  the  red  stripes  were  made  of 
different  pieces  of  stuff  found  in  the  garrison." 
Mr.  Fiske  claims  that  the  flag,  "hastily  extem- 
porized out  of  a  white  shirt  and  an  old  blue  jacket, 
and  some  stripes  of  red  cloth  from  the  petticoat 
of  a  soldier's  wife,  was  the  first  American  flag 
with  stars  and  stripes  that  was  ever  hoisted." 

I  am  idebted  to  Mrs.  Abraham  Lansing  of 
Albany,  New  York,  for  the  following  facsimile 
of  a  letter  written  to  Colonel  Gansevoort  by  Cap- 
tain Swartwout,  in  1778,  which  is  important  in 
that  it  practically  sustains  Lossing's  account  of 
the  making  of  the  Fort  Stanwix  flag : 


52 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 


^  C/  %~4?£f' 


2>^/^^£dX' a 

'*f&y'0Kj 
/ 


Some  four  or  five  years  ago  the  Albany  (New 
York)  Times  published  the  statement  that  the 
Fort  Stanwix  flag  was  then  in  possession  of  Mrs. 
Abraham  Lansing  of  that  city  and  had  been  dis- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         53 

played  on  several  important  events  during  the  past 
few  years.  But  Mrs.  Lansing  (Catherine  Ganse- 
voort  Lansing),  granddaughter  of  General  Peter 
Gansevoort,  writes  the  author  that  the  flag  referred 
to  by  the  Times  has  now  no  existence.  She  never 
heard  her  father  speak  of  ever  having  seen  the 
flag,  and  inquiries  made  concerning  it  have  never 
resulted  in  its  discovery. 

Notwithstanding  the  historical  facts  which 
have  been  presented  relative  to  the  service  of  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  at  Fort  Schuyler,  Delaware 
claims  that  the  new  flag  was  first  hoisted  in  battle 
in  that  state.  Mr.  Henry  C.  Conrad,  formerly 
librarian  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Delaware, 
maintains  that  the  flag  was  first  unfurled  at 
Coach's  Bridge  on  the  third  day  of  September, 
1777,  when  the  Americans  met  the  British  in  a 
skirmish.  At  that  place  a  monument  was  dedi- 
cated on  the  third  of  September,  1901,  on  which 
was  inscribed: 

"THE  STABS  AND  STRIPES  WERE 
FIRST  UNFURLED  IN  BATTLE  AT 

COACH'S  BRIDGE, 
SEPTEMBER  THE  3o,  1777." 


"ERECTED  BY  THE  PATRIOTIC 

SOCIETIES  AND  CITIZENS 

OF  THE  STATE  OF  DELAWARE, 

SEPTEMBER  THE  So.,  1901." 


54,         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Mr.  Conrad's  reason  for  this  claim  is  absurd. 
He  says  that  "on  August  the  second,  1777,  a  short 
skirmish  or  sally  occurred  at  Fort  Schuyler,  New 
York,  in  which  the  Americans  floated  a  rudely 
devised  flag,  intended  to  represent  the  ideas  em- 
bodied in  the  resolve  of  Congress;  and  that  all 
historians  agree  that  the  flag  floated  on  that  occa- 
sion was  merely  an  improvised  one,  and  in  no 
sense  a  complete  and  regular  flag  of  the  United 
States." 

In  answering  Mr.  Conrad's  theory,  I  cannot 
do  better  than  to  quote  a  few  lines  from  an  article 
contributed  to  the  New  York  Tribune  by  Mr. 
Edward  Hagaman  Hall,  Secretary  of  the  Ameri- 
can Scenic  and  Historical  Preservation  Society: 
"Thus  the  twenty  days'  siege  at  Fort  Schuyler  so 
courageously  and  successfully  resisted  is  dis- 
missed by  Mr.  Conrad  as  a  short  skirmish 
or  rally,  and  the  fine  distinction  drawn  be- 
tween a  heroic  siege  with  all  its  terrors  of 
possible  starvation  and  barbarous  massacre, 
and  a  morning's  skirmish  at  Coach's  Bridge  be- 
tween two  small  bodies  of  troops  formally  drawn 
up  in  line  of  battle.  I  do  not  know  of  any  histor- 
ian who  says  that  the  Fort  Schuyler  flag  was  not 
'complete,'  although  they  do  agree  that  it  was  im- 
provised. It  was  under  the  folds  of  this  flag  that 
the  brave  Colonel  Willett  bore  in  triumph  from 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         55 

the  battle-field  (Oriskany)  five  captured  British 
flags  and  much  baggage  and  stores." 

Jones  and  the  First  Flag. 

Professor  Dwight,  from  whom  I  have  already 
quoted,  says  that  the  naval  committee  of  Congress 
presented  to  Paul  Jones  the  first  official  flag  of  the 
United  States  that  was  ever  made.  There  is  no 
official  record,  however,  to  confirm  this  statement. 
In  his  Life  of  Paul  Jones,  Mr.  Buell  says  the 
captain  displayed  the  new  flag  on  the  Ranger  on 
the  fourth  of  July,  1777,  and  made  a  special  trip 
for  that  purpose  from  Boston  to  Portsmouth,  ISTew 
Hampshire,  where  the  vessel  was  being  fitted  for 
sea. 

Paul  Jones'  devotion  to  the  flag  is  shown  in 
what  he  said  some  time  after  Congress  had  be- 
stowed upon  him  the  honor  of  commanding  the 
Ranger:  "That  flag  and  I  are  twins;  born  the 
same  hour  from  the  same  womb  of  destiny.  We 
cannot  be  parted  in  life  or  death.  So  long  as  we 
can  float,  we  shall  float  together.  If  we  must  sink 
we  shall  go  down  as  one." 

He  was  right.  The  flag  and  Captain  Jones 
were  indeed  born  in  the  same  hour.  It  was  a 
fortunate  conjunction  of  the  flag  and  the  man. 
One  was  ordained  to  be  the  symbol  of  sovereignty 
over  the  civilized  world ;  and  the  other  was  re-born 


56         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

to  stand  foremost  among  the  bravest  heroes  of  the 
sea. 

The  First  Salute  to  the  Stars  and 
Stripes. 

On  the  first  of  November,  1777,  Captain  Jones 
started  across  the  sea  in  his  little  vessel  to  prowl 
about  the  British  coast,  and  "distress  the  enemy" 
by  capturing  or  annoying  any  craft  that  he  might 
meet.  On  this  memorable  cruise  he  made  an  op- 
portunity for  a  foreign  power  to  salute  our  flag. 
Jones  was  a  stickler  for  his  rights  as  a  commander 
of  an  American  man-of-war,  and  a  defender  of 
the  Stars  and  Stripes.  He  sailed  near  the  French 
fleet  then  at  Brest  Road,  and  giving  a  salute,  he 
demanded  and  received  one  in  return  for  the  new 
flag  on  the  fourteenth  of  February,  1778.  This 
was  the  first  salute  given  the  flag  by  a  foreign 
power. 

But  some  persons  have  tried  to  change  the  cur- 
rent of  history  as  to  the  flag  salute,  by  denying  to 
Paul  Jones  the  honor  which  undoubtedly  belongs 
to  him.  At  the  present  day  this  may  seem  to 
many  a  threadbare  story,  but  from  an  historical 
view-point  the  matter  is  of  great  concern. 

In  1819,  John  Adams,  who  manifested  a  deep 
interest  in  this  subject,  wrote  a  letter  to  Josiah 
Quincy  in  which  he  said  that  the  first  American 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         57 

vessel — carrying  the  American  ensign — to  obtain 
a  salute  from  a  foreign  power  was  the  Andreas 
Doria,  at  St.  Eustatia,  in  the  Danish  West  Indies, 
in  November,  1776.  But  it  will  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  flag  carried  by  Jones  and  which  received  a 
salute  from  the  French  commander  at  Brest  Road, 
was  the  authorized  Stars  and  Stripes.  The  brig 
Andreas  Doria,  carried  only  a  Continental  ensign, 
perhaps  the  union  flag  that  Washington  hoisted  at 
Cambridge,  which  was  never  legalized  or  recog- 
nized by  the  Continental  Congress.  It  is  a  sur- 
prise that  so  eminent  a  statesman  as  the  late  James 
Birney,  who  was  appointed  minister  to  the  Hague 
by  President  Grant,  should  contend  that  the  flag 
of  our  country  was  first  formally  saluted  by  the 
Governor  of  St.  Eustatia,  when  the  incident  oc- 
curred nearly  eight  months  before  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  had  a  being !  ISTo  stars  on  any  flag  were 
ever  seen  prior  to  the  act  of  Congress  in  June, 
1777. 

The  New  Flag  Across  the  Sea. 

In  April,  1778,  Jones  sailed  from  Brest  and 
continued  his  phenomenal  cruise.  On  the  twenty- 
third  of  the  month  he  fell  in  with  the  British 
man-of-war  Drake,  off  Carrickfergus,  Ireland,  and 
after  a  battle  of  a  little  more  than  an  hour,  he 
compelled  the  captain  to  surrender.  The  little 
Ranger  lost  only  eight  men  in  killed  and  wounded, 


58          OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

while  the  Drake,  of  superior  strength  in  fighting 
capacity,  lost  forty-two.  Thus  Jones  was  the 
first  officer  of  the  American  navy  to  compel  a  reg- 
ular British  man-of-war  to  strike  the  cross  of 
St.  George  and  St.  Andrew  to  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  The  Ranger  had  extraordinary  success 
while  on  the  English  coast,  and  after  many  stirring 
events  which  cannot  be  related  here,  the  vessel 
which  had  never  brought  discredit  upon  the  flag  in 
any  battle,  passed  from  under  the  command  of 
Paul  Jones.  The  "sauciest  craft  afloat,"  as  the 
Ranger  was  often  called,  returned  home,  and  in 
1780,  while  anchored  in  Charleston  harbor  she 
was  captured  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  commander 
of  the  British  forces. 

When  Paul  Jones  was  sent  abroad  to  "vex  the 
enemy"  on  the  British  coast,  he  was  to  act  with 
almost  unlimited  orders  under  the  commission 
and  flag  of  the  United  States.  The  Ranger  hav- 
ing been  ordered  back  to  America,  Jones  remained 
in  Europe  for  some  months — chiefly  in  France 
— seeking  the  good  fortune  to  be  placed  in  com- 
mand of  a  squadron  that  he  might  renew  his 
cruise  with  additional  vigor  and  strength.  Fi- 
nally the  French  Government,  with  the  approval 
of  Dr.  Franklin,  one  of  the  American  Commis- 
sioners, placed  at  his  command  a  squadron  of  five 
vessels,  of  which  le  Duras  was  the  flag-ship.  De- 
siring to  compliment  his  friend  Franklin,  Jones, 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         59 

with  the  Doctor's  consent,  changed  the  name  of 
the  ship  to  Bon  Homme  Richard  (Poor  Richard), 
the  nom  de  plume  of  Franklin.  Jones  had  re- 
tained the  flag  of  the  Ranger  and  transferred  it 
to  the  Richard  when  he  assumed  command  of  the 
squadron. 

The  Richard  and  the  Serapis. 

In  August,  1779,  the  squadron  sailed  from 
Isle  de  Groaix,  France,  to  cruise  around  the  Brit- 
ish Islands.  On  the  evening  of  September  twenty- 
third,  when  close  off  Flamborough  Head — a  prom- 
ontory of  the  Yorkshire  coast — Jones  fell  in  with 
the  British  ship  Serapis,  of  forty-four  guns,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Pearson.  At  seven  o'clock  and 
fifteen  minutes,  on  a  moonlight  night,  the  Rich- 
ard, carrying  forty-two  cannon,  gave  the  Serapis 
a  broadside,  and  this  opened  the  most  remarkable 
battle  between  two  ships  of  war  that  was  ever 
fought  on  the  sea.  The  story  of  the  battle  cannot 
be  given  in  these  pages.  Thackeray  once  told  an 
American  friend  that  the  account  of  the  amazing 
capture  of  the  Serapis  by  Paul  Jones  was  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  stories  ever  recorded  in 
naval  history.  I  would  advise  everyone  inter- 
ested in  the  achievements  of  the  American  flag, 
to  read  the  account  of  this  battle  as  given  in  any 
good  life  of  Jones,  and  particularly  that  found  in 


60         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Bancroft's  history.  The  world  will  never  tire 
hearing  of  Paul  Jones'  sublime  confidence  and 
daring  in  an  hour  when,  according  to  all  human 
calculation,  his  own  defeat  was  inevitable.  But 
with  a  sinking  ship,  half  of  his  men  dead  or  dying, 
when  hope  and  chance  seemed  totally  lost,  he  won 
immortal  victory. 

The  Flag  of  the  Richard. 

There  is  more  than  ordinary  interest  in  the 
story  of  the  flag  which  floated  over  the  Ranger  and 
subsequently  went  down,  battle-torn,  with  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard.  On  December  twenty- 
fourth,  1898,  a  dispatch  was  sent  from  Washing- 
ton to  many  prominent  journals  which  gave  an 
account  of  the  ensign  of  the  Richard  being  pre- 
sented to  the  Government.  President  McKinley 
is  said  to  have  received  it  from  the  hands  of  Mrs. 
Harriet  R.  P.  Stafford  of  College  City,  Massachu- 
setts, to  whom  it  had  descended  from  her  ancestor, 
James  B.  Stafford.  The  dispatch  stated  that  the 
flag  was  made  by  the  Misses  Mary  and  Sarah 
Austin  of  Philadelphia,  who  presented  it  to  Paul 
Jones  shortly  after  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were 
adopted  in  June,  1777.  As  the  story  goes,  the 
patriotic  ladies  of  Philadelphia  met  at  the  Swedes' 
church — the  Misses  Austin  being  among  them — 
and  there  made  the  flag  which  Jones  accepted,  and 


The  "Stafoni"  Flag. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         61 

with  which  he  was  so  delighted  that  "he  procured 
a  small  boat  and  unfurled  the  star-gemmed  banner 
and  sailed  up  and  down  the  river  before  Philadel- 
phia, showing  it  to  thousands  on  shore." 

This  ensign  bore  thirteen  stripes  but  only 
twelve  stars,  the  omission  of  the  thirteenth  being 
explained  by  the  erroneous  statement  that  Georgia 
at  that  time  had  not  come  into  the  confederation. 
It  is  claimed  that  this  flag  was  hoisted  over  the 
Ranger  at  Portsmouth,  and  finally  over  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard.  Admiral  Preble  made  diligent 
search  for  authority  to  sustain  this  account  of  the 
making  of  the  flag,  and  says  he  could  find  no 
notice  of  the  event  at  the  Swedes'  church,  in  the 
church  records  or  in  the  newspapers  of  that  time ; 
from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  story 
is  simply  tradition. 

Another  story  regarding  this  flag  of  only 
twelve  stars  is  told  by  Miss  Sarah  S.  Stafford,  a 
descendant  of  James  B.  Stafford,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  It  has 
been  rehearsed  by  Admiral  Preble  and  various 
publications  with  seeming  approval,  although 
there  is  double  reason  why  the  story  should  not 
pass  without  comment  or  explanation.  The  story 
in  substance,  is  that  about  ten  days  before  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  fell  in  with  the  Serapis, 
Paul  Jones  captured  a  British  vessel  called  the 
Kitty.  Her  crew  volunteered  to  serve  on  the 


62          OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Richard,  and  among  them  was  James  B.  Stafford, 
a  nephew  of  the  captain  of  the  ill-fated  vessel.  It 
is  alleged  that  Stafford  was  made  an  officer  on  the 
Richard  because  of  his  excellent  education;  and 
when  the  flag  was  shot  away  in  the  battle  with  the 
Serapis,  he  plunged  into  the  sea,  recovered  it,  and, 
while  attempting  to  replace  it,  his  shoulder  was 
cut  in  two  by  an  officer  on  the  English  ship. 
When  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  sinking,  the 
flag  was  seized  by  a  sailor  (some  accounts  say  by 
Stafford)  and  was  transferred  by  Jones  to  the 
Serapis,  and  later  accompanied  him  to  the  Al- 
liance upon  his  assuming  command  of  that  frigate. 
After  the  sale  of  the  Alliance  in  1784,  the  flag  was 
presented  to  Lieutenant  Stafford  in  recognition 
of  his  meritorious  service  through  the  Revolu- 
tionary War. 

The  story  of  this  flag  which  the  Government 
supposes  was  the  flag  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
is  singular  indeed.  The  most  surprising  of  all 
statements  concerning  it  I  find  in  Mr.  Edward  S. 
Ellis'  Historical  Readings,  published  the  present 
year.  He  speaks  of  the  flag  in  this  wise :  "I  have 
examined  it  many  times,  and  was  struck  by  the 
fact  that  it  contains  only  twelve  stripes.  Miss 
Stafford's  explanation  to  me  was  that  it  originally 
had  thirteen,  but  the  lower  portion  was  so  muti- 
lated in  the  great  sea  fight  that  it  was  cut  off  to 
preserve  its  comeliness." 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.          63 

There  seems  to  be  an  inexplicable  mystery  in 
the  quotation  concerning  the  twelve  stripes.  A 
photograph  of  this  self -same  flag  was  taken  in 
1872  for  Admiral  Preble's  work,  and  another  was 
printed  in  the  New  York  Tribune  in  1898,  and  in 
each  case  the  thirteen  stripes  are  intact.  Fur- 
thermore, both  illustrations  appear  to  be  pre- 
sumptive evidence  that  the  flag  never  waved  on 
the  ensign-gaff  of  the  Richard  in  the  fiercest  and 
most  deadly  of  all  sea  conflicts.  It  is  not  a  battle- 
torn  ensign  such  as  went  down  with  the  Richard. 

What  High  Authorities  Say  of  the 
Flag. 

Mr.  Brady  in  his  Life  of  Jones  has  this  to 
say  about  Stafford  and  his  flag: 

"Stafford,  it  is  claimed,  had  been  a  sailor  on 
the  American  armed  ship  Kitty,  which  had  been 
captured  by  a  British  cruiser,  said  cruiser  and  her 
prize  being  subsequently  taken  by  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  whereupon  Stafford  volunteered  for  ser- 
vice on  the  Richard,  was  warranted  a  midshipman, 
and  is  alleged  to  have  performed  several  heroic 
deeds  in  connection  with  the  flag  during  the  action. 
There  is  no  authority  whatever  for  these  state- 
ments in  any  existing  contemporary  account  of 
the  battle.  Stafford's  name  does  not  appear  in 
anv  of  the  lists  of  the  officers  and  crew.  But  we 


64         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

have  evidence  which  is  more  than  negative,  for 
Jones  explicitly  states  that  when  the  Richard  went 
down  the  flag  was  left  flying  at  the  peak. 

"In  subsequent  letters,  though  he  takes  occa- 
sion to  refer  specifically  to  the  fact  that  he  sailed 
under  American  colors  in  the  Alliance — he  calls 
them  'my  very  best  American  colors,'  a  phrase 
certainly  inappropriate  for  the  tattered  ensign  of 
the  Richard — he  never  makes  the  slightest  refer- 
ence to  their  having  been  used  in  the  famous 
battle." 

Another  excellent  authority  on  Paul  Jones  and 
the  American  flag  is  Mr.  Buell,  whose  account  of 
the  making  of  the  first  flag  hoisted  over  the  Ranger 
is  full  of  interest : 

"The  'unconquered  and  unstricken'  flag  that 
went  down  with  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  the 
same  one  which  the  girls  of  Portsmouth  made 
from  slices  of  their  best  silk  gowns,  and  presented 
to  Jones  to  hoist  on  the  Ranger,  July  the  fourth, 
1777,  and  he  considered  it  his  personal  property 
— or,  perhaps,  the  property  of  the  girls  who  made 
it — intrusted  to  his  keeping.  On  relinquishing 
command  of  the  Ranger  in  1778,  he  kept  this  flag 
with  him,  and  used  it  on  the  Richard.  It  was 
made  by  a  quilting  party,  according  to  specifica- 
tions which  Jones  furnished.  The  thirteen  white 
stars  were  cut  from  the  bridal  dress  in  which 
Helen  Seary  had  been  wedded  in  May,  1777. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         65 

"This  was  the  first  edition  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  that  Europe  ever  saw;  the  first  to  be 
saluted  by  the  guns  of  a  European  naval  power; 
but,  far  beyond  that,  and  beyond  anything,  it  was 
the  first  and  last  flag  that  ever  went  down  or  ever 
will  go  down  flying  on  the  ship  that  conquered 
and  captured  the  ship  that  sunk  her. 

"When  Jones  returned  to  this  country  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1781,  he  found  Miss  Langdon  of  the  'quilt- 
ing party,'  a  guest  of  the  Ross  family,  whose  house 
was  always  his  home  in  Philadelphia.  By  way  of 
apology  he  explained  to  her  that  his  most  ardent 
desire  had  been  to  bring  that  flag  home  to  America, 
with  all  its  glories,  and  give  it  back  untarnished 
into  the  fair  hands  that  had  given  it  to  him  nearly 
four  years  before.  'But,  Miss  Mary,'  he  said,  'I 
couldn't  bear  to  strip  it  from  the  poor  old  ship  in 
her  last  agony,  nor  could  I  deny  to  my  dead  on 
her  decks,  who  had  given  their  lives  to  keep  it 
flying,  the  glory  of  taking  it  with  them.' 

"  'You  did  exactly  right,  Commodore,'  ex- 
claimed Miss  Langdon,  'that  flag  is  just  where  we 
all  wish  it  to  be — flying  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
over  the  only  ship  that  ever  sunk  in  victory !'  ' 

Paul  Jones'  E/oquent   Words. 

Again,  the  evidence  that  shatters  to  pieces  the 
fanciful  story  that  the  flag  now  laid  away  among 
the  sacred  relics  in  the  National  Museum  at  Wash- 


66         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

ington,  is  the  "unconquered  and  unstricken"  flag 
that  floated  over  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,,  comes 
in  stronger  words  than  ever  from  Paul  Jones  him- 
self. In  his  journal  is  this  pathetic,  unblemished 
piece  of  eloquence : 

"No  one  was  now  left  aboard  the  Richard 
but  her  dead.  To  them  I  gave  the  good  old  ship 
jfor  their  coffin,  and  in  her  they  found  a  sublime 
saepulchre.  She  rolled  heavily  in  the  long  swell, 
lier  gun-deck  awash  to  the  port-sills,  settled  slowly 
by  the  head,  and  sank  peacefully  in  about  forty 
fathoms. 

"The  ensign-gaff,  shot  away  in  action,  had  been 
fished  and  put  in  place  soon  after  firing  ceased, 
and  our  torn  and  tattered  flag  was  left  flying  when 
we  abandoned  her.  As  she  plunged  down  by  the 
head  at  the  last,  her  taffrail  momentarily  rose  in 
the  air;  so  the  very  last  vestige  mortal  eyes  ever 
saw  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  the  defiant 
waving  of  her  unconquered  and  unstricken  flag 
as  she  went  down.  And,  as  I  had  given  them  the 
good  old  ship  for  their  sepulchre,  I  now  be- 
queathed to  my  immortal  dead  the  flag  they  had 
so  desperately  defended,  for  their  winding  sheet !" 


First  Flag  of  the  United  States  — June  14,  1777 


Second  Flag  of  the  United  States — 17Q5- 
Fifteen  Stars  and  Fifteen  Stripes. 


GROWTH  OF  THE  FLAG. 

THE  FIRST  ALTERATION  OF  THE  STARS 
AND  STRIPES  BT  CONGRESS. 

HE  Stars  and  Stripes  ordered  by  Con- 
gress in  1777  had  strongly  appealed 
to  the  patriotism  of  the  colonists  dur- 
ing the  remaining  period  of  the  Rev- 
olution, and  continued  to  be  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  till  the  first  of  May,  1795.  Ver- 
mont was  admitted  into  the  Union  on  the  fourth 
of  March,  1791,  and  Kentucky  on  June  first, 

1792.  As  a  matter  of  course  these  new  States 
asked  to  be  represented  in  the  flag.      Stephen  R. 
Bradley,  the  first  senator  from  Vermont,  notified 
the   Senate  on  Monday,  December  twenty-third, 

1793,  that  on  the  following  Wednesday  he  should 
move  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  alter  the  flag  so  that  after 
the  first  day  of  May,  1795,  it  should  carry  fifteen 
stars  and  fifteen  stripes. 

The  bill  was  introduced  on  the  twenty-sixth  of 
December,  and  was  passed  by  the  Senate  on  the 


68         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

thirtieth.  The  measure  was  sent  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  for  concurrence,  and  was  consid- 
ered on  Tuesday,  January  the  seventh,  1794. 
The  House  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the 
whole,  and  a  curious  and  lengthy  debate  began  on 
the  Senate  bill.  The  leader  of  the  opposition  to 
give  Vermont  and  Kentucky  a  place  in  the  Na- 
tional flag,  was  Benjamin  Goodhue  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts.  He  was  engaged  in  commercial 
pursuits,  was  afterwards  a  senator  of  the  United 
States,  and  distinguished  himself  as  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  commerce.  Mr.  Goodhue 
thought  the  alteration  of  the  flag  was  a  trifling 
piece  of  business  which  ought  not  to  engross  the 
attention  of  the  House  when  it  was  their  duty  to 
discuss  matters  of  "infinitely  greater  conse- 
quence." He  contended  that  if  Congress  were 
to  alter  the  flag  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  stripes, 
with  two  additional  stars  because  Vermont  and 
Kentucky  had  been  added  to  the  Union,  it  might 
go  on  adding  and  altering  at  that  rate  for  a  hun- 
dred years  to  come.  He  laid  special  stress  on 
his  idea  that  the  flag  ought  to  be  permanent  in 
its  number  of  stars  and  stripes. 

William  Lyman  of  Northampton,  Massachu- 
setts, was  appointed  consul  to  Liverpool  after  his 
congressional  term  expired,  and  died  there  in 
1811.  He  was  somewhat  of  a  political  prophet, 
and  wanted  the  flag  to  grow  with  the  Union,  and 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         69 

thought  it  of  the  greatest  consequence  not  to  offend 
the  new  States  by  denying  them  representation 
on  the  flag. 

George  Thatcher  was  a  member  from  Yar- 
mouth, Massachusetts,  and  served  many  years  in 
Congress,  and  afterwards  was  Judge  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  his  State.  He  was  famous  for 
his  wit,  and  had  but  little  devotion  for  the  flag. 
When  a  bill  was  reported  in  Congress  respecting 
the  use  of  the  eagle  on  American  coins,  he  recom- 
mended the  goose,  for  which  he  was  challenged 
to  a  duel  by  the  author  of  the  bill,  but  Thatcher's 
ridicule  of  the  challenge  led  to  its  withdrawal. 
His  wit  and  sarcasm  were  his  chief  weapons  in 
opposing  the  alteration  of  the  flag.  He  ridiculed 
the  idea  of  Congress  being  at  so  much  trouble 
about  the  flag,  and  he  charged  that  the  considera- 
tion of  the  matter  was  a  consummate  specimen  of 
frivolity.  At  this  rate,  he  declared,  every  State 
should  alter  its  public  seal  when  an  additional 
county  or  township  was  formed. 

Christopher  Greenup  of  Kentucky  (subse- 
quently governor  of  that  State)  touched  the  key- 
note of  patriotism  in  saying  that  he  considered 
it  of  very  great  consequence  to  inform  the  rest  of 
the  world  that  we  had  two  new  States  to  join  the 
Union. 

Among  the  members  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives who  could  see  neither  patriotism  nor 


70         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

justice  in  the  purpose  to  change  the  flag,  was 
Nathaniel  Niles  of  Vermont.  He  was  the  in- 
ventor of  the  process  of  making  wire  from  bar 
iron;  was  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  his 
State ;  was  a  poet  and  theologian,  and  expounded 
the  gospel  to  his  neighbors  every  Sunday,  for 
twelve  years  in  his  own  house.  When  the  flag  bill 
was  before  the  committee  of  the  whole  he  expressed 
sorrow  that  such  a  matter  should  even  for  a  mo- 
ment have  hindered  the  House  of  Representatives 
from  going  into  more  important  affairs.  He  did 
not  think  the  alteration  either  worth  the  trouble 
of  adopting  or  rejecting;  but  he  supposed  the 
shortest  way  to  get  rid  of  it  was  to  agree  to  it,  and 
for  that  reason,  and  that  alone,  he  advised  to  pass 
it  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  committee  agreed  to  the  bill,  and  it  was 
taken  up  by  the  House. 

A  large  number  of  representatives  in  Congress 
seemed  to  have  no  well  defined  thought  as  to  the 
merit  of  the  measure  by  which  the  flag  was  to  be 
changed  to  correspond  to  the  new  condition 
brought  about  by  the  rapid  growth  of  the  country. 
Among  such  members  was  Elias  Boudinot  who, 
after  leaving  Congress,  was  made  director  of  the 
United  States  Mint,  and  for  many  years  was 
president  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  In  his 
speech  before  the  House  he  declared  that  his  only 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         71 

motive  in  supporting  the  bill  was  to  keep  the  cit- 
izens of  Vermont  and  Kentucky  in  good  humor. 

Mr.  Goodhue  raised  his  voice  in  the  commit- 
tee of  the  whole  against  altering  the  flag.  He 
said  he  felt  for  the  honor  of  Congress  when  spend- 
ing its  time  in  such  sort  of  business  as  talking 
of  altering  the  flag.  But  since  the  bill  must  be 
passed  he  had  to  beg  the  favor  that  a  record  of  the 
proceedings  might  not  appear  upon  the  journal  of 
the  House  and  go  into  the  world  as  the  first  of  the 
bills  to  pass  at  that  session. 

James  Madison  of  Virginia,  afterwards  Pres- 
ident, favored  giving  Vermont  and  Kentucky  rep- 
resentation on  the  flag,  but  made  no  speech  during 
the  remarkable  debate. 

William  Smith  of  South  Carolina,  who  be- 
came a  senator,  and  once  refused  a  place  on  the 
Supreme  Bench  of  the  United  States,  stated  that 
the  proposed  alteration  would  cost  him  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  every  American  vessel  thirty 
dollars.  He  could  not  conceive  what  the  Senate 
meant  by  sending  them  such  a  bill,  unless  it  was 
the  want  of  something  better  to  do.  He  said  he 
would  indulge  them  this  time,  however,  but 
warned  the  senators  against  trying  to  make  any 
more  alterations  of  that  kind.  Mr.  Smith  de- 
clared that  his  conviction  was  that  the  flag  should 
remain  permanent  as  to  the  number  of  its  stars 
and  stripes. 


72          OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

On  Wednesday,  January  the  eighth,  1794,  the 
bill  passed  to  a  third  reading,  when  Shear jashur 
Browne  of  Massachusetts,  moved  that  it  be  re- 
ferred to  a  select  committee.  John  Watts  of  Xew 
York  City,  in  seconding  the  motion,  stated  that 
his  object  was  to  have  a  clause  inserted  in  the  bill 
to  establish  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  so  that 
in  case  of  new  accessions  to  the  Union,  future  ap- 
plications for  alterations  might  be  precluded. 
The  motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  forty-nine  to 
thirty-nine,  when  Mr.  Watts  moved  that  the  bill 
should  be  re-committed  to  the  committee  of  the 
whole  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a  clause  to 
fix  forever  the  flag  of  the  United  States.  This 
motion  was  likewise  lost ;  and  the  original  bill,  pro- 
viding that  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  May, 
1795,  the  flag  of  the  United  States  be  fifteen 
stripes,  alternate  red  and  white ;  that  the  union 
be  fifteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field,  was  passed 
by  a  vote  of  fifty  yeas  to  forty-two  nays. 

The  bill  was  approved  by  President  Washing- 
ton on  the  thirteenth  day  of  January,  1794. 

The  assertion  of  General  Schuyler  Hamilton 
that  the  stars  formed  into  one  large  star  in  the 
canton,  was  the  flag  of  1812,  is  not  sustained  on 
sufficient  evidence.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
Star  Spangled  Banner  of  Fort  McIIenry  had  the 
stars  arranged  in  parallel  rows. 


MORE   STARS   AND   FEWER 
STRIPES. 

THE  SECOND    AND    LAST  ALTERATION 
OF  THE  FLAG  BY  CONGRESS. 

T  WAS  nearly  twenty-two  years  after 
the  flag  of  1795  was  ordained  before 
any  further  steps  were  taken  by  Con- 
gress to  change  its  form.  During 
that  interval  much  inspiring  progress  and  devel- 
opment of  Young  America  had  been  made.  The 
flag  of  fifteen  stripes  and  stars  had  won  many 
victories,  and  had  undergone  some  vicissitudes.  It 
was  victorious  in  some  forty  of  the  seventy  prin- 
cipal engagements  in  the  war  of  1812.  Of  the 
eighteen  naval  battles  fought  in  that  war,  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  conquered  in  thirteen.  At  Fort  Mc- 
Henry,  in  1814,  the  banner  inspired  the  greatest 
flag-anthem  ever  written.  Five  States  had  been 
added  to  the  Union,  and  Illinois  was  knocking  at 
the  door  for  admission. 

When  Peter  H.  Wendover  of  New  York  City, 
had  studied  these  facts  he  was  impressed  with  the 


74         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

thought  that  the  flag  was  not  up  to  date.  He  was 
a  member  of  Congress,  serving  from  1815  to  1821, 
and  was  the  first  and  most  intelligent  champion  of 
the  new  flag  then  serving  in  that  body.  Above  all 
other  Americans  that  lived  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Republic,  Mr.  Wendover  was  second  to  John 
Paul  Jones  in  his  intense  devotion  to,  and  master- 
ful defense  of,  the  flag.  On  Monday,  the  ninth 
of  December,  1816,  he  offered  a  resolution  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  calling  for  a  select  com- 
mitte  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  altering 
the  flag  of  the  United  States  to  meet  the  conditions 
then  existing.  When  the  question  was  put  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  it  escaped  defeat  by 
such  a  narrow  margin  that  the  patriotic  feelings 
of  Mr.  Wendover  were  deeply  wounded.  In  his 
remarks  upon  the  temper  of  the  House  concerning 
the  proposed  changes,  he  said  that  while  the  flag 
was  not  then  appropriate,  and  had  incongruities 
that  should  be  corrected,  he  would  not  press  the 
resolution,  but  would  consent  that  it  be  laid  on  the 
table. 

But  by  the  Thursday  following,  Mr.  Wendover's 
hope  and  courage  seemed  to  have  been  revived,  for 
on  that  day  he  brought  the  flag  resolution  before 
the  House.  In  urging  the  adoption  of  his  motion 
he  said  there  was  no  man  in  the  House,  he  hoped, 
who  would  not  consent  to  change  a  flag  under 
which  had  been  falsified  the  predictions  of  Euro- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.          75 

pean  orators  and  paragraphists  when  they  said 
Yankee  cock-boats  would  be  speedily  driven  from 
the  sea.  His  own  thought  was  to  make  an  unes- 
sential, though  an  appropriate  variation.  When 
first  adopted,  he  said,  the  flag  bore  one  star  and 
one  stripe  for  every  State;  when  two  additional 
States  entered  the  Union,  the  flag  was  altered  by 
a  special  act  by  Congress  so  that  it  would  carry 
two  additional  stars  and  stripes.  Since  then,  Mr. 
Wend  over  observed,  four  States  had  been  added 
to  the  Union,  but  the  flag  remained  the  same. 
Conceiving  this  not  to  be  correct,  he  hoped  the 
House  of  representatives  would  consent  to  the 
proposed  inquiry. 

Mr.  John  W.  Taylor  of  New  York,  who  served 
in  the  House  twenty  years,  and  was  speaker  of 
the  Nineteenth  Congress,  favored  the  inquiry, 
but  for  a  reason  quite  different  from  that  assigned 
by  Mr.  Wendover.  He  said  he  had  been  informed 
by  a  gentleman  of  the  navy  that  the  American 
flag  could  be  seen  and  recognized  on  the  seas  at 
a  greater  distance  than  that  of  any  other  Nation. 
But,  he  suggested,  if  the  stripes  and  stars  were 
multiplied  the  flag  would  become  less  distinct  to 
distant  observation,  and  therefore  he  was  in  favor 
of  restricting  the  flag  to  its  original  character  of 
thirteen  stars  and  stripes,  and  establish  it  per- 
manently in  that  form. 


76         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

A  vote  was  finally  taken  on  Mr.  Wendover's 
motion,  and  being  carried,  the  committee  of  in- 
quiry was  appointed. 

On  Thursday,  the  second  day  of  January, 
1817,  the  special  committee  submitted  a  report 
through  its  chairman,  Mr.  Wendover,  in  which 
was  expressed  the  belief  that  any  proposition  es- 
sentially to  alter  the  flag  of  the  United  States, 
either  in  its  general  form  or  in  the  distribution  of 
its  parts,  would  be  as  unacceptable  to  Congress  and 
the  people,  as  it  would  be  uncongenial  with  the 
views  of  the  committee. 

The  committee  was  fully  persuaded  that  the 
form  selected  for  the  American  flag  was  truly 
emblematical  of  our  origin  and  existence  as  an 
independent  nation,  and  that  as  such,  it  had  re- 
ceived the  approbation  and  support  of  the  citizens 
of  the  Union,  and  ought  not  to  undergo  any  change 
that  would  decrease  its  conspicuity,  or  tend  to  de- 
prive it  of  its  representative  character.  The  com- 
mittee, however,  believed  that  "a  change  in  the 
number  of  stars  in  the  union  sufficiently  indi- 
cated the  propriety  of  such  an  alteration  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  flag  as  would  best  accord  with 
the  reasons  that  led  to  its  adoption,  and  sufficiently 
pointed  to  important  periods  of  our  history." 

Attention  was  called  by  the  committee  to  the 
fact  that  the  original  flag  was  composed  of  thir- 
teen stripes  and  thirteen  stars,  and  was  adopted 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         77 

by  a  resolution  of  the  Continental  Congress  on  the 
fourteenth  of  June,  1777 ;  and  that  on  the  thir- 
teenth of  January,  1794,  after  two  States  (\rer- 
mont  and  Kentucky)  had  been  admitted  into  the 
Union,  the  National  Legislature  had  created  a 
law  which  provided  that  the  stripes  and  stars 
should,  on  a  fixed  day,  be  increased  to  fifteen  each, 
to  compare  with  the  then  number  of  independent 
States.  The  accession  of  a  number  of  States  since 
that  alteration,  and  the  certain  prospects  that  at 
no  distant  period  the  number  of  States  would  be 
considerably  multipled,  rendered  it,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  committee,  highly  expedient  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  stars,  as  every  flag  must,  in 
some  measure,  be  limited  in  its  size,  from  the  cir- 
cumstances of  convenience  to  the  place  on  which 
it  is  to  be  displayed ;  and  that  this  consideration 
had  induced  many  to  retain  only  the  general  form 
of  the  flag,  while  there  actually  existed  a  great 
want  of  uniformity  in  its  adjustment,  particularly 
when  used  on  small  vessels. 

The  conclusions  of  the  committee  were  pro- 
phetic, for  it  suggested  that  no  alteration  in  the 
flag  could  be  made  that  would  be  more  emblematic 
of  the  origin  of  the  Union  than  to  reduce  the 
stripes  to  the  original  thirteen,  representing  the 
number  of  States  then  contending  for,  and  happily 
achieving,  their  independence,  and  to  increase  the 
stars  to  correspond  with  the  number  of  States  then 


78         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

in  the  Union,  and  thereafter  to  add  a  star  to  the 
flag  whenever  a  new  State  should  be  fully  ad- 
mitted. 

No  action  was  taken  by  the  second  session 
of  the  Fourteenth  Congress  on  the  report  of  the 
committee  which  foretold  in  what  form  the  flag 
of  the  Union  should  forever  remain.  The  report 
was  "crowded  out"  by  the  pressure  of  business 
which  Congress  thought  of  greater  consequence. 
But  on  Tuesday,  December  sixteenth,  1817,  Mr. 
Wendover,  with  his  interest  in  the  flag  not  in  the 
least  abated,  submitted  his  previous  resolution 
for  the  appointment  of  a  select  committee  to  in- 
quire into  the  necessity  for  changing  the  flag. 

The  resolution  was  agreed  to,  and  Mr.  Wend- 
over  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  on 
the  sixth  of  January,  1818,  he  presented  a  report 
to  the  House  of  Representatives  accompanied  by 
a  bill.  The  bill  provided  that  from  the  fourth 
day  of  July,  1818,  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
be  thirteen  horizontal  stripes,  alternate  red  and 
white ;  that  the  union  have  twenty  stars,  white  in 
a  blue  field;  that  on  the  admission  of  every  new 
State  into  the  Union,  one  star  be  added  to  the 
union  of  the  flag,  and  that  such  addition  shall 
take  effect  on  the  fourth  of  July  next,  succeeding 
such  admission. 

Action  was  deferred  on  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner  till  Tuesday,  March  twenty-fourth,  1818, 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         79 

when  it  was  the  first  call  on  the  docket.  Mr. 
Wendover  moved  to  go  in  committee  of  the  whole, 
which  prevailed,  and  he  then  began  an  eloquent 
speech  on  the  proposition  to  so  alter  the  flag  that 
thereafter,  without  the  trouble  and  delay  of  con- 
gressional action,  it  would  keep  pace  with  the  pro- 
gress of  the  country. 

In  addressing  the  committee  Mr.  Wendover 
said  he  was  not  particularly  well  informed  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  American  flag,  but  was  convinced 
that  at  its  adoption  it  was  founded  on  a  repre- 
sentative principle,  and  in  the  arrangement  of 
its  parts  made  applicable  to  the  number  of  the 
States  then  united  against  a  common  foe. 

The  flag  being  once  altered  to  give  Vermont 
and  Kentucky  representation  thereon,  Mr.  Wend- 
over asked  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  fact 
that  Tennessee  came  into  the  sisterhood  of  States 
in  June,  1796 ;  Ohio,  in  February,  1803 ;  Louis- 
iana, in  April,  1812 ;  Indiana,  in  December, 
1816;  Mississippi,  in  December,  1817;  and 
Illinois  was  then  knocking  at  the  door  of  the 
Union  for  admission,  and  all  of  them  de- 
sired to  be  represented  on  the  flag.  Calculating 
on  such  a  result,  he  said  it  caused  many  to  regret 
the  former  alteration  of  the  flag,  and  no  doubt 
the  same  reason  operated  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives when  the  bill  passed,  and  doubtless 
accounted  for  the  small  majority  of  eight  by  which 
it  succeeded. 


80         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

As  Mr.  Wendover's  speech  was  a  notable  pa- 
triotic achievement,  a  few  striking  paragraphs 
are  given  therefrom : 

"It  cannot  be  deemed  desirable  under  the 
existing  state  of  things,  in  relation  to  the  stripes 
and  stars  in  the  flag,  to  retain  it  in  its  present  sit- 
uation. It  is  not  only  inapplicable,  but  both  parts 
refer  to  the  same  thing,  and  the  one  is  a  duplicate 
of  the  other.  But  the  alteration  proposed  will  di- 
rect the  view  to  two  striking  facts  in  our  national 
history,  and  teach  the  world  an  important  reality, 
that  republican  government,  is  not  only  practicable, 
but  that  it  is  also  progressive. 

"It  is  desirable  to  have  uniformity  in  the  flag. 
In  the  navy  the  law  is  generally  conformed  to, 
but  it  is  well  known  that  uniformity  does  not  else- 
where exist.  I  could  refer  you  to  the  flag  at  this 
moment  waving  over  the  heads  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  nation,  and  two  others  in  sight,  equally 
the  flags  of  the  government ;  while  the  law  directs 
that  the  flag  shall  contain  fifteen  stripes,  that  on 
the  hall  of  Congress,  whence  laws  emanate,  has  but 
thirteen,  and  those  of  the  navy  yard  and  marine 
barracks,  have  each  eighteen.  Nor  can  I  omit  to 
mention  the  flag  under  which  the  last  Congress 
sat  during  its  first  session,  which,  from  some 
cause  or  other  unknown,  had  but  nine  stripes. 

"As  to  the  particular  disposition  of  the  stars 
in  the  Union  of  the  flag,  the  committee  are  of  the 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         81 

opinion  that  that  might  be  left  to  the  discretion  of 
persons  more  immediately  concerned,  either  to  ar- 
range them  in  the  form  of  one  great  luminary  or 
in  the  words  of  the  original  resolution  of  1777, 
representing  a  new  constellation. 

"Mr.  Chairman,  in  viewing  this  subject  there 
appears  to  be  a  happy  coincidence  of  circumstances 
in  having  adopted  the  symbol  in  your  flag,  and  a 
peculiar  fitness  of  things  in  making  the  proposed 
alteration.  In  that  part  designed  at  a  distance  to 
characterize  your  country,  and  which  ought,  for 
the  information  of  all  other  nations,  to  appear  con- 
spicuous and  remain  permanent,  you  present  the 
number  of  the  stripes  that  burst  the  bands  of  op- 
pression, and  achieved  your  independence;  while 
in  the  other  part  intended  for  a  nearer,  or  a  home 
view,  you  see  a  representation  of  your  happy 
Union  as  it  now  exists,  and  space  sufficient  to 
embrace  the  symbol  of  those  who  may  hereafter 
join  under  your  banner. 

"I  believe  it  is  now  time  to  legislate  on  this 
subject.  Your  flag  now  stands  pre-eminently  high 
in  the  estimation  of  other  nations,  and  is  justly 
the  pride  of  your  own.  And  although,  for  a  mo- 
ment, your  flag  was  veiled  at  Detroit  (August, 
1812),  and  left  to  droop  at  Castine  (September, 
1814),  and  although,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  it 
was  made  to  weep  at  Washington  (August,  1814), 
it  has  not  lost  its  lustre — it  remains  unsullied. 


82         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

No  disgrace  has  attached  to  your  Star  Spangled 
Banner,  it  has  been  the  signal  of  victory  on  land, 
of  successful  valor  on  the  lakes,  and  moved  tri- 
umphantly on  the  sea.  And  even  on  those  who 
predicted  that  in  nine  months  the  striped  bunting 
would  be  swept  from  the  seas,  it  possessed  the 
wonderful  charm,  that  before  the  nine  months  had 
elapsed  'fir-built-frigates'  and  'Yankee-cock-boats' 
were  magnified  into  ships-of-the-line ;  and  his 
Majesty's  faithful  officers,  careful  for  the  pre- 
servation of  British  Oak,  sought  protection  for 
their  frigates  under  the  convoy  of  seventy-four- 
gun  ships. 

"But,  sir,  whatever  be  the  fate  of  this  bill,  I 
hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  you  will 
give  to  your  flag  its  deserved  honor,  as  the  guar- 
dian of  your  citizens;  when  your  hardy  seamen 
shall  no  longer  be  doomed  to  the  degradation  to 
ask  for,  nor  to  you  to  give  them,  paper  protec- 
tion; but  when  they  shall  point  aloft  to  the  flag 
of  their  country,  and  say,  'This  is  the  protection 
of  freemen;  under  this  we  desire  peacefully  to 
traverse  the  ocean  and  sail  to  every  clime.'  And 
whenever  called  to  the  contest  by  the  voice  of  their 
country,  may  rally  round  the  Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner, and  emphatically  exclaim — 

"  'High-waving,  unsullied,  unstruck,  proudly  showeth, 
What  each  friend,  and  each  foe,  and  each  neutral  knoweth; 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         83 

That  her  path  is  ethereal,  high  she  aspires, 
Her  stripes  aloft  streaming  like  boreal  fires. 

"  'Joined  with  stars,  they  astonish,  dismay,  or  delight, 
As  the  foe,  or  the  friend,  may  encounter  the  sight.' 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  shall  add  no  more.  The 
subject  is  plain  and  well  understood;  and  though 
not  of  a  character  to  be  classed  with  those  of  the 
highest  national  importance,  is  still  proper  to  be 
acted  upon,  and  worthy  the  attention  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  a  people  whose  flag  will  never  be  in- 
sulted for  want  of  protection,  and  which,  I  hope 
and  believe,  will  never  be  struck  to  an  inferior 
or  an  equal  force." 

To  lend  interest  to  the  debate  on  the  flag  bill, 
Mr.  Wendover  had  hoisted  striped  bunting  in 
committee  of  the  whole.  His  modest  estimate  of 
his  speech  is  shown  in  a  brief  note  to  a  friend  on 
the  day  following  its  delivery:  "After  I  had 
made  a  few  observations  and  sat  down  Mr.  Poin- 
dexter  (George  Poindexter  of  Mississippi),  moved 
to  strike  out  twenty  stars  and  insert  seven,  with 
a  view  to  have  stripes  for  the  old,  and  stars  for 
the  new  States.  The  motion  was  rejected  almost 
unanimously." 

The  debate  having  closed,  the  committee  of 
the  whole  reported  the  bill  for  engrossment  and  a 
third  reading.  All  the  reference  thereafter  made 
in  the  Debates  and  Proceedings  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  concerning 


84         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

the  alteration  of  the  flag — an  event  that  now  pos- 
sesses so  much  historic  interest — is  found  in  the 
doings  of  Wednesday,  March  twenty-fifth,  1818, 
and  is  given  in  eighteeen  words :  "An  engrossed 
bill  to  alter  the  flag  of  the  United  States  was 
read  the  third  time,  and  passed." 

The  Senate  seems  never  to  have  taken  any- 
thing more  than  a  passive  interest  in  the  flag  bill, 
at  least  no  debates  thereon  are  published  in  the 
History  of  Congress.  The  battle  was  fought  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  in  the  struggle 
in  the  Fourteeenth  and  Fifteenth  Congresses  to 
make  the  flag  a  truly  representative  one,  Mr.  Wen- 
dover  was  the  hopeful  and  vigorous  leader.  The 
bill  was  sent  to  the  Senate  for  concurrence,  and  on 
Tuesday,  March  the  thirty-first,  1818,  it  passed; 
but  the  vote  is  not  recorded. 

The  bill  was  signed  by  President  Monroe  on 
the  fourth  of  April,  1818,  and  on  the  thirteenth 
of  the  month,  the  new  flag  waved  over  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States. 

Captain  Samuel  C.  Reid — whose  fame  in  con- 
nection with  his  command  of  the  privateer  The 
General  Armstrong,  in  her  fight  at  Fayal  Roads, 
in  the  Azores  Islands,  in  September,  1814,  had 
spread  far  and  wide — was  much  interested  in  the 
flag  discussion  in  Washington.  Before  the  first 
report  of  the  select  committee  was  submitted,  Mr. 
Wendover  had  invited  the  captain  to  suggest  a 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         85 

design  for  the  proposed  flag.  The  popular  ac- 
count of  the  making  of  the  new  Star  Spangled 
Banner  is  that  Captain  Reid  recommended  that 
the  stripes  be  reduced  to  thirteeen  to  represent  the 
original  thirteen  States;  that  the  stars  represent- 
ing each  of  the  States  be  formed  into  one  large 
five-pointed  star,  symbolizing  the  national  motto, 
E  Pluribus  Unum,  and  that  a  star  be  added  for 
each  new  State. 

It  is  somewhat  curious  that  Congress  never 
designated  how  the  stars  in  the  blue  field  of  the 
flag  should  be  arranged.  The  reader  will  remem- 
ber that  in  Mr.  Wendover's  interesting  speech  in 
Congress  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  1818,  he 
did  not  contend  for  any  special  arrangement  of 
the  stars  in  the  union  of  the  flag.  As  to  that 
particular  point  he  thought  the  committee  were 
of  the  opinion  that  it  might  be  left  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  persons  more  immediately  concerned, 
either  to  arrange  them  in  the  form  of  one  great 
luminary,  or  in  the  words  of  the  original  resolu- 
tion of  1777,  "representing  a  new  constellation." 
The  committee  did  not  accept  Captain  Reid's 
suggestion  to  form  a  large  five-pointed  luminary 
out  of  the  individual  stars.  In  1859  Congress 
tendered  its  thanks  to  Captain  Reid  (two  years 
before  his  death),  and  an  effort  was  made  to  in- 
sert a  clause  in  the  resolution  which  would  fix  the 
mode  of  arranging  the  stars  in  the  blue  firmament, 


86         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

and  the  resolution  was  adopted,  but  the  proposed 
clause  was  rejected. 

The  first  flag,  according  to  the  design  of  Cap- 
tain Reid,  is  said  to  have  been  made  by  his  wife 
and  some  of  her  young  women  friends,  and  was 
hoisted  over  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
thirteenth  of  April,  1818.  The  plan  of  formulat- 
ing one  large  star  in  the  field  was  soon  aban- 
doned. It  was  plainly  evident  that  as  the  num- 
ber of  States  increased,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
make  the  individual  stars  so  small  as  to  be  almost 
indistinguishable  as  stars.  On  the  eighteenth  of 
September,  1818,  the  Navy  Department  issued 
an  order  in  which  was  illustrated  the  plan  of 
arranging  the  stars  in  parallel  rows  on  the  flags 
to  be  used  on  all  American  ships  of  war,  and  since 
that  time  the  National  flag,  whether  floating  over 
land  or  sea,  has  the  same  arrangement  of  its  stars. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  flag  of  our 
fathers,  and  is  now  the  emblem  of  the  most  power- 
ful, intelligent,  liberty-loving  people  on  the  earth. 
It  is  the  victorious  kind  of  a  flag.  In  every  great 
cause  in  which  it  has  been  unfurled,  the  Star 
Spangled  Banner  has  been  supreme  and  uncon- 
querable. 


on 


Yacht  Ensign.  Ensign  of  the  Re-venue  Marine. 


• 1 '  UVr 


Pennant  Revenue  Marine.  United  Staffs  Jack. 


NOTEWORTHY  FLAG  INCI- 
DENTS. 

MANY  HISTORICAL  FACTS  WITH  WHICH 

THE  STAR  SPANGLED  BANNER 

HAS  BEEN  ASSOCIATED. 

THE  latter  part  of  August,  1814, 
Dr.  William  Beanes,  an  old  resident 
of  Upper  Marlborough,  Maryland, 
was  captured  by  General  Ross  of  the 
British  army,  and  was  held  a  prisoner  on  the 
admiral's  flagship,  the  Surprise.  The  doctor  was 
a  personal  friend  of  Francis  Scott  Key,  then 
a  young  lawyer  living  at  Baltimore.  On  the 
second  of  September,  1814,  writing  from  George- 
town to  his  mother,  Key  said :  "Am  going  to 
Baltimore  to-morrow  and  proceed  in  a  flag  ves- 
sel to  General  Ross.  Dr.  Beanes  has  been  taken 
prisoner  by  the  enemy,  who  threaten  to  carry  him 
off."  Key  found  the  English  fleet  in  Chesapeake 
Bay,  and  was  kindly  received  by  Admiral  Cock- 
rane.  The  enemy  was  about  to  make  a  combined 


88         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

attack  by  sea  and  land  upon  Fort  McHenry;  and 
while  General  Ross  consented  to  the  release  of  Dr. 
Beanes,  it  was  stipulated  that  all  of  the  American 
party  should  remain  on  the  Surprise  until  the 
fort  was  reduced. 

All  during  that  eventful  night,  the  thirteenth 
of  September,  the  great  guns  of  the  fleet  poured 
a  blazing  shower  of  shot  and  shell  upon  the  fort- 
ress. Key,  standing  on  the  deck  of  the  English 
ship,  in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  of  the  terrific 
bombardment,  could  see  at  intervals,  by  the  glare 
of  the  rocket  and  the  flash  of  the  cannon,  the 
American  flag  waving  victoriously  over  its  gallant 
defenders.  It  was  a  hot,  persistent  fight,  taxing 
to  the  utmost  the  courage,  endurance,  and  patri- 
otism of  the  soldiers.  In  the  stirring  enthusiasm 
of  that  supreme  moment,  and  at  the  dawn's  early 
light,  when  the  Stars  and  Stripes  waved  in  tri- 
umph above  the  smoke  of  battle,  Key  wrote  the 
lines  that  are  as  deathless  as  the  flag  itself : 

"O  say  can  you  see  by  the  dawn's  early  light, 

What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming; 
Whose  stripes  and  bright  stars  thro'  the  perilous  fight 
O'er  the  ramparts  we  watched  were  so  gallantly  stream- 
ing— 

And  the  rockets'  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air, 
Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there; 
O  say,  does  that  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave? 

"On  the  shore  dimly  seen  through  the  mists  of  the  deep, 
Where  the  foe's  haughty  host  in  dread  silence  reposes, 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         89 

What  is  that  which  the  breeze  o'er  the  towering  steep, 

As  it  fitfully  blows,  half  conceals,  half  discloses? 
Now  it  catches  the  gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam, 
In  full  glory  reflected  now  shines  in  the  stream; 
"Tis  the  star-spangled  banner — Oh,  long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave ! 

"And  where  is  that  band  who  so  vauntingly  swore 
That  the  havoc  of  war  and  the  battle's  confusion 
A  home  and  a  country  should  leave  us  no  more? 

Their  blood  has  washed  out  their  foul  footsteps'  pollution. 
No  refuge  could  save  the  hireling  and  slave 
From  the  terror  of  flight  or  the  gloom  of  the  grave; 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  doth  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 

"O !  thus  be  it  ever  when  freemen  shall  stand 

Between  their  loved  homes  and  the  war's  desolation; 
Blest  with  vict'ry  and  peace  may  the  Heaven-rescued  land 
Praise  the  Power  that  hath  made   and  preserved  us  a 

nation. 

Then  conquer  we  must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just, 
And  this  be  our  motto:      'In  God  is  our  trust'; 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave!" 

President  Lincoln  and  the  Flag. 

When  President  Lincoln  reached  Philadel- 
phia on  his  memorable  journey  to  Washington  in 
February,  18G1,  he  was  informed  by  a  detective, 
that  his  enemies  were  plotting  against  his  life,  and 
that  it  would  be  unsafe  for  him  to  appear  prom- 
inently in  public.  Mr.  Lincoln  heard  the  offi- 
cer's statement  in  detail  and  then  said:  "I  have 


90          OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

promised  to  raise  the  American  flag  on  old  In- 
dependence Hall  to-morrow  morning — the  anni- 
versary of  Washington's  birthday — and  in  the 
afternoon  to  attend  a  reception  by  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature,  and  both  of  these  engagements 
I  will  keep  if  it  costs  me  my  life." 

The  following  morning  he  was  escorted  to  In- 
dependence Hall,  and  after  a  brief  address  to  the 
people  from  a  platform,  he  was  publicly  invited  to 
raise  a  new  flag.  He  then  hoisted  the  flag  to  the 
top  of  the  staff  amid  the  cheers  of  a  vast  concourse 
of  people.  Dr.  Josiah  G.  Holland,  in  his  life  of 
Lincoln,  says:  "It  was  certainly  a  remarkable 
occasion  when  Abraham  Lincoln  stood  within  the 
room  where  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
framed  and  signed,  and  pledged  himself  anew  to 
its  truths  and  principles,  and  then  walked  out 
into  the  presence  of  the  people  and  ran  up  to  its 
home  the  beautiful  National  ensign  prepared  for 
his  hands." 

Major  Anderson  and  the  Flag. 

Mr.  Henry  J.  Raymond,  founder  of  the  New 
York  Times,  and  for  many  years  its  distinguished 
editor,  once  said  in  a  public  meeting:  "I  heard 
an  anecdote  to-day  from  Major  Anderson  during 
the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter.  A  report  came  that 
the  flag  on  the  morning  of  the  fight  was  at  half 
mast.  I  asked  the  Major  if  that  was  true,  and  he 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         91 

said  there  was  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it.  During 
the  firing,  one  of  the  halyards  was  shot  away,  and 
the  flag  dropped  down  a  few  feet.  The  rope 
caught  in  the  staff  and  could  not  be  reached  so 
that  the  flag  could  neither  be  lowered  nor  hoisted ; 
and,  said  the  Major :  'God  Almighty  nailed  that 
flag  to  the  mast,  and  I  could  not  have  lowered  it 
if  I  had  tried !'  " 

The  Flag  of  Fort  Walker. 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  World, 
writing  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Walker,  South 
Carolina,  November  7th,  1861,  said:  "The 
cheers  that  uprose  on  the  hoisting  of  the  flag  on 
the  fort  were  deafening.  The  stentorian  ringing 
of  human  voices  would  have  drowned  the  roar  of 
artillery.  The  cheer  was  taken  up  man  by  man, 
ship  by  ship,  regiment  by  regiment.  Such  a 
spontaneous  outburst  of  soldierly  enthusiasm 
never  greeted  the  ears  of  Napoleon  amid  the  vic- 
tories of  Marengo,  Austerlitz,  or  the  pyramids 
of  the  Nile." 

The  Flag  Raised  on  the  Mountains. 

The  first  Union  flag  raised  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  occurred  at  Carson  City,  Colorado,  on 
the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  1861.  It  was  a  mem- 
orable day  in  the  history  of  the  town.  Governor 
Gilpin  made  a  speech  on  the  flag.  People  came 


92         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

fifty  miles  to  witness  the  scene.  The  flag  was 
made  by  Mrs.  J.  I).  Jenks  and  Mrs.  M.  G.  Pratt. 
The  Carson  City  Weekly  Times  of  July  1st,  1861, 
said  of  the  event:  "Forever  wave  the  standard 
Sheet !  The  glorious  Stars  and  Stripes  now  float 
from  a  flag-staff  in  front  of  the  Carson  City  Hotel. 
The  sun  meets  it  at  early  morn,  his  departing  rays 
fall  upon  its  graceful  folds,  while  the  eyes  of  our 
admiring  citizens  are  often  raised  to  it  with  love 
and  patriotism." 

The  Cross  and  the  F/ag. 

The  New  York  News  gave  an  interesting  in- 
cident of  how  the  flag  was  unfurled  on  the  spire 
of  Grace  Episcopal  Church  in  that  city  in  April, 
1861.  The  vestrymen  desired  that  the  American 
flag  should  wave  from  the  apex  of  the  spire  of 
the  church,  260  feet  from  the  ground.  Several 
persons  undertook  the  dangerous  feat,  but  on 
mounting  to  the  highest  window  in  the  steeple, 
they  had  not  sufficient  nerve  to  continue  their 
efforts.  At  last  two  young  painters,  O'Donnel 
and  McLaughlin  (unfortunately  their  Christian 
names  were  not  given),  decided  to  make  the  at- 
tempt. Getting  out  of  the  little  diamond-shaped 
window  about  half  way  up,  they  climbed  to  the 
lightning-rod  to  the  top.  Here  one  of  them  fast- 
ened the  pole  securely  to  the  cross,  although  quite 
a  gale  was  blowing.  The  flag  secured,  he  mounted 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         93 

the  cross  and,  taking  off  his  hat,  bowed  to  the 
assembled  thousands  watching  him  from  Broad- 
way. As  the  flag  floated  out  freely  in  the  air  it 
was  hailed  with  loud  and  repeated  cheers.  The 
New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  which  did  not 
sympathize  with  the  Union  cause,  made  note  of 
this  remarkable  event,  but  added  ironically: 
"The  historian  of  the  day  will  not  fail  to  men- 
tion, for  the  edification  of  the  men  of  future 
ages,  the  fact  that  the  flag,  which  was  once  the 
flag  of  our  Union,  floats  boldly  to  the  breeze  of 
heaven  above  the  Cross  of  Christ  and  Grace 
Church  steeple."  But  the  Commercial  Advertiser 
did  not  seem  to  grasp  the  fact  that  the  mission  of 
the  flag  bore  a  strong  relationship  to  the  mission 
of  the  Cross. 

Hanged  for  Hauling  Down  the[Flag. 

Commodore  Farragut's  fleet — at  that  time  the 
largest  that  ever  sailed  under  the  flag  of  the 
United  States — anchored  in  front  of  New  Orleans 
on  the  twenty-fifth  of  April,  1862.  His  success 
in  fighting  his  way  from  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river  against  powerfully  equipped  forts  and 
fortifications  of  the  Confederates,  was  one  of  the 
marvels  of  the  war.  The  city  being  at  his  mercy, 
Farragut  issued  a  written  demand  that  the  civil 
authorities  hoist  the  American  flag  over  the  city 
hall,  the  Government  mint,  and  the  custom  house, 


94         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

as  an  emblem  of  the  authority  of  the  United 
States.  To  this  demand  the  mayor  made  the  fol- 
lowing reply:  "As  to  hoisting  any  flag  not  of 
our  own  adoption,  I  must  say  to  you  that  the  man 
lives  not  in  our  midst  whose  hand  and  heart 
would  not  be  paralyzed  at  the  mere  thought  of 
such  an  act." 

The  mayor  having  intimated  that  the  com- 
modore took  the  city  by  brute  force,  and  therefore 
could  do  his  own  flag  raising,  Farragut  sent  a 
party  ashore  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  April,  to 
raise  the  Stars  and  Stripes  over  the  mint  building. 
In  a  few  hours  thereafter,  four  citizens  of  New 
Orleans — of  whom  William  B.  Mumford,  a  pro- 
fessional gambler,  was  the  leader — ascended  the 
roof  of  the  mint,  tore  down  the  flag,  trailed  it  in 
the  mud ;  and  mounting  a  cart  with  it,  paraded  it 
about  the  city,  and  at  last  tore  it  into  shreds. 
Afterwards  Mumford  walked  the  streets  and 
boasted  of  his  daring  act.  He  was  a  disturbance 
to  the  peace  of  the  city,  and  the  military  authori- 
ties ordered  his  arrest.  Mumford  was  tried  by  a 
commission  and  condemned  to  death.  The  thugs 
and  outlaws  of  New  Orleans  defied  the  Federal 
authorities  to  carry  out  the  sentence,  but  General 
Butler,  then  in  command  of  the  city,  dared  do  any- 
thing he  thought  was  right,  and  Mumford  was 
hanged  on  the  seventh  of  June,  1862.  It  was  a 
severe,  but  a  just,  penalty  for  outraging  the  Amer- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.          95 

lean  flag,  and  from  that  moment  the  peace  and 
good  order  of  New  Orleans  were  secure. 

The  fifth  New  Hampshire's  Hard 
Experience. 

The  original  flag  carried  by  the  Fifth  New 
Hampshire  was  shot  to  pieces  at  the  battle  of 
Fredericksburg.  In  that  engagement  the  flag  was 
borne  by  Color-Sergeant  Reuel  G.  Austin,  who 
was  wounded.  It  was  then  carried  by  Sergeant 
George  S.  Gove,  and  he  also  was  dangerously 
wounded.  The  flag  was  then  carried  by  Sergeant 
John  E.  McCrillis  till  the  close  of  the  day.  It 
is  related  that  during  the  battle,  Captain  James 
B.  Perry  received  a  mortal  wound.  He  could  not 
be  taken  to  the  rear  because  of  the  terrific  firing 
by  the  enemy.  Lying  where  he  fell,  he  said :  "I 
know  I  cannot  recover  from  this  wound,  but  I 
would  be  content  if  I  could  see  the  old  flag  once 
more."  The  flag  was  taken  to  him  for  a  few 
moments  and  he  died  while  clasping  it  with  his 
hands.  The  Fifth  received  a  new  flag  to  be  car- 
ried at  Gettysburg,  and  seven  color-bearers  were 
killed  or  wounded  while  attempting  to  pilot  the 
regiment  in  that  battle. 

Dix's    Famous   Order. 

"If  any  man  attempts  to  haul  down  the  Amer- 
ican flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot."  This  famous 


96         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

command  was  embodied  in  a  telegram  sent  from 
Washington  by  John  A.  Dix,  January  twenty- 
ninth,  1861.  He  was  then  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  under  President  Buchanan.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  order  was  to  secure  the  arrest  of  Cap- 
tain Breshwood,  commander  of  the  revenue  cutter 
McClemard,  which,  it  was  learned,  he  proposed 
to  turn  over  to  the  Confederates.  The  dispatch 
was  intercepted  at  New  Orleans,  and  therefore  did 
not  reach  its  destination.  But  it  reached  the  pub- 
lic which  was  better  still,  for  it  impressed  upon 
the  minds  of  the  Confederates  that  the  policy  of 
temporizing  was  at  an  end. 

One  man  in  Buchanan's  administration  felt  as 
patriots  feel  when  their  country  is  threatened  with 
dishonor.  One  order  was  issued  which  did  not 
disgrace  the  government.  "When  I  read  it," 
wrote  General  Butler  to  General  Dix,  long  after, 
"my  heart  bounded  with  joy.  It  was  the  first 
bold  stroke  in  favor  of  the  Union  under  the  Bu- 
chanan administration."  Butler  had  the  pleasure 
of  sending  to  General  Dix  from  New  Orleans,  the 
identical  flag  which  was  the  object  of  the  order, 
and  the  Confederate  flag  which  was  hoisted  in  its 
place;  as  well  as  the  recommendation  for  promo- 
tion of  the  sailor,  David  Ritchie,  who  contrived 
to  snatch  both  flags  from  the  McClemard  when  the 
Confederates  abandoned  and  blew  her  up  as  Far- 
ragut's  fleet  drew  near,  a  little  over  a  year  later. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         97 
The  Flag  of  the  24th  Michigan. 

In  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore's  volume  contain- 
ing her  experiences  in  the  Civil  War,  it  is  related 
that  the  Twenty-fourth  Michigan,  which  formed 
a  part  of  the  famous  Iron  Brigade,  was  the  first 
infantry  engaged  on  the  first  day  of  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg.  At  the  beginning  of  the  famous 
charge  of  the  brigade,  Abel  G.  Peck,  the  color- 
bearer,  was  instantly  killed.  Private  Thomas  B. 
Ballou  seized  the  flag  and  immediately  was  mor- 
tally wounded.  August  Ernst  then  raised  the  flag 
and  was  instantly  killed.  Captain  Andrew  Wag- 
ner at  once  took  the  colors  but  was  soon  shot  in 
the  breast,  the  wound  proving  fatal  a  year  after 
the  war  closed.  When  Wagner  fell  Colonel  Henry 
A.  Morrill  took  up  the  flag,  and  gallantly  at- 
tempted to  rally  the  few  soldiers  that  survived 
the  deadly  charge ;  but  Private  William  Kelly  said 
to  the  colonel:  "You  shall  not  carry  the  flag 
while  I  am  alive."  He  took  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
and  raised  them  to  the  breeze,  and  in  a  few  mo- 
ments received  a  shot  in  the  heart  and  fell  dead. 
Private  L.  Spaulding  took  the  flag  from  the  hands 
of  Kelly  and  carried  it  till  he  was  severely 
wounded.  Colonel  Morrill  for  the  second  time 
seized  the  flag,  but  in  a  few  moments  was  shot  in 
the  head,  and  he  was  carried  off  the  field.  After 
the  fall  of  Colonel  Morrill  the  flag  was  borne  by 


98         OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

a  soldier  whose  name  is  unknown.  He  fell  with 
the  banner  fast  in  his  hands.  Captain  Edwards 
then  held  it  until  the  remnant  of  the  regiment 
fell  back  and  reached  Gulp's  Hill.  He  was  the 
only  man  who  carried  the  flag  on  the  first  day  of 
the  battle  that  was  not  killed  or  severely  wounded. 

The  Tattered  Banner  of  the  Qth  Iowa. 

The  flag  of  the  ^inth  Iowa  Infantry  had  a 
hard  experience  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  The 
regiment  fought  heroically  and  suffered  terribly 
in  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  Arkansas,  on  the  sev- 
enth of  March,  1862,  for  which  a  committee  of 
patriotic  ladies  of  Boston  gave  it  a  handsome  silk 
flag.  The  Ninth  belonged  to  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  led  in  the  desperate  assault  at 
Vicksburg,  on  the  twenty-second  of  May,  1863. 
In  the  effort  to  reach  the  Confederate  breastworks 
every  member  of  the  color-guard  had  fallen,  either 
killed  or  badly  wounded.  Sergeant  Elson  fell 
frightfully  wounded  and  lay  on  the  flag  he  so 
bravely  carried.  When  night  came,  Captain 
George  Granger  drew  its  dripping  folds  from 
under  the  bleeding  body  of  its  prostrate  bearer, 
concealed  it  under  his  blouse,  and  carried  it  off 
the  field  in  safety.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore  says, 
though  the  flag  was  covered  with  blood  and  riddled 
by  shot  and  shell,  it  was  sent  up  to  the  cannon's 
mouth  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  was  carried  at 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.         99 

the  battles  of  Jackson,  Brandon,  Cherokee  Station, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  and  Chatta- 
nooga. When  it  came  out  of  the  latter  battle  the 
flag  was  so  riddled  by  shot  and  shell  that  it  was 
no  longer  fit  for  service,  and  by  an  unanimous  vote 
of  the  regiment  it  was  returned  to  the  donors  in 
Boston, 

Sergeant  Munsell  at  Gettysburg. 

The  Ninety-ninth  Pennsylvania  Infantry  at 
Gettysburg,  occupied  a  post  of  great  danger  at  the 
"Devil's Den."  Sergeant  Harvey  May  Munsell  had 
a  color-guard  of  eight  corporals,  and  every  man 
was  killed  in  defending  the  flag.  He  had  eleven 
bullet  holes  in  his  clothing,  but  was  not  injured. 
Obliged  to  retreat  from  the  "Den,"  he  was  stunned 
by  the  explosion  of  a  shell,  and  fell.  On  recov- 
ering consciousness,  he  found  himself  between 
the  lines  in  the  midst  of  furious  fighting.  He 
drew  the  flag  under  his  body  and  remained  quiet 
until  the  Confederates  were  driven  back,  when  he 
gathered  up  his  flag  and  started  for  the  rear.  He 
had  been  reported  killed  and  the  flag  captured. 
Afterwards  Sergeant  Munsell  wrote:  "Twenty- 
three  years  have  passed  since  that  terrible  tragedy, 
and  it  is  as  fresh  in  my  mind  to-day  as  if  it  was 
but  yesterday.  Heroes  they  were,  every  inch  of 
them.  Eight  boys  (for  they  were  nothing  else) 


100        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

shot  to  death  defending  the  flag  of  their  country 
at  a  critical  point — at  a  critical  moment." 

Sergeant  Munsell  carried  the  flag  through 
thirteen  general  engagements  before  being  pro- 
moted, and  was  unharmed.  The  officers  of  the 
regiment  gave  him  a  heavy  silk  flag  and  staff, 
suitably  inscribed,  for  meritorious  conduct  on 
several  fields  of  battle,  the  names  of  which  were 
imprinted  thereon.  He  also  received  a  medal  of 
honor  from  Congress. 

On  the  second  of  July,  1886 — the  twenty- 
third  anniversary  of  the  second  day's  conflict  at 
Gettysburg — the  surviving  members  of  the  Ninety- 
ninth  Pennsylvania,  dedicated  a  beautiful  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  its  fallen  heroes,  on  the 
very  spot  where  the  little  band  of  eight  gave  their 
lives  that  we  might  live  as  a  Nation.  And  it  was 
on  this  same  spot  that  President  Lincoln  spoke 
those  memorable  words:  "We  cannot  consecrate 
nor  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here  have  consecrated  it 
far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract." 

Also  at  Gettysburg  the  Fourth  Michigan  had 
a  fearful  experience.  It  was  there  that  a  Confed- 
erate officer  seized  the  regimental  colors,  and  was 
instantly  killed  by  the  colonel,  who  was  bayoneted 
the  next  moment  by  a  Confederate  coldier  who,  in 
his  turn,  was  killed  by  the  major,  and  the  flag  was 
saved. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        101 
A  Notable  Banner. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  D.D.,  of 
Philadelphia,  who  is  noted  for  his  distinguished 
services  as  chaplain  of  the  Tenth  Connecticut  In- 
fantry, in  the  Civil  War,  wrote  an  interesting 
volume  on  War  Memories  of  an  Army  Chaplain, 
which  was  published  by  the  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons,  K"ew  York,  in  1899.  From  that  work  I  am 
glad  to  quote  the  following  paragraph,  which  tells 
a  wonderful  story  of  the  flag : 

"It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  a  regi- 
mental flag  to  have  two,  or  four,  or  more,  noble 
fellows  fall  in  its  upbearing  in  a  single  fight.  In 
the  Military  Museum  at  Albany  is  a  tattered  flag 
of  the  Thirtieth  New  York  Infantry,  on  the  staff 
of  which  is  this  inscription :  'At  the  last  battle  of 
Bull  Run  (August  twenty-ninth  and  thirtieth, 
1862),  these  colors  fell  during  the  engagement  in 
the  hands  of  ten  different  soldiers,  shot  dead  on  the 
Held.  Thirty-six  balls  passed  through  the  stars 
and  stripes,  and  the  staff  was  shot  to  splinters.' 
Such  a  record  gives  point  to  the  story  of  the  de- 
voted soldier  who,  catching  up  the  falling  colors 
as  they  went  down  again  in  fight,  called  out, 
heroically:  'Here  are  two  minutes  more  for  the 
old  flag!'  and  dashed  ahead  into  the  jaws  of 
death." 


102       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 
An  Extemporised  Flag. 

That  noted  clergyman,  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng 
of  ISTew  York  city  (father  of  the  Rev.  Dudley  A. 
Tyng,  whose  tragic  death  in  1858,  inspired  the 
popular  hymn,  Stand  up  for  Jesus'),  once  gave  in 
a  public  address  the  following  touching  war  in- 
cident: Amid  the  horrors  of  Libby  prison,  the 
loyal  soldiers,  there  confined  in  filth,  beggary,  and 
wretchedness,  determined  to  celebrate  among  them- 
selves their  country's  independence  in  1863.  But 
they  had  no  flag.  How  could  they  celebrate  and 
rejoice  without  a  banner  which,  as  American  cit- 
izens, represented  all  that  was  near  and  dear  to 
them  ?  Finally,  one  poor  soldier  whose  patriot- 
ism was  not  starved  out  of  him,  said,  "I  have  a  red 
shirt" ;  and  another,  "I  have  a  blue  blouse" ;  and 
another,  "I  have  a  white  shirt."  And  no  sooner 
was  it  said,  than  they  stripped  themselves  and  gave 
their  red  and  white  shirts,  and  a  blue  blouse,  to  be 
torn  into  stripes  and  pinned  together  to  extem- 
porize their  country's  flag. 

A  Stirring  Scene  at  Macon. 

The  fourth  of  July,  1864,  will  ever  remain  a 
memorable  day  to  those  who,  at  that  time,  were 
prisoners  of  war  within  the  stockade  at  Macon, 
Georgia.  The  prisoners  had  crowded  in  and 
around  the  central  structure  to  listen  to  some 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       103 

speeches  in  commemoration  of  the  Nation's  birth- 
day. Captain  Todd  of  the  Eighth  New  Jersey 
Infantry,  displayed  a  small  United  States  flag 
which  he  had  secreted  on  his  person.  The  effect 
was  indescribable.  The  air  was  rent  with  cheers, 
shouts,  and  cries.  Tears  in  streams  rolled  down 
the  cheeks  of  the  great,  rough,  shaggy  men  as  they 
hugged  each  other  at  the  sight  of  the  banner. 
Those  at  a  distance  away  climbed  upon  the  back 
of  others  to  catch  a  view  of  the  flag.  "Hold  it 
up!"  shouted  a  voice,  "don't  be  afraid;  hold  it  up 
so  that  we  can  feast  our  souls  upon  it."  The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,  and  Rally  'round  the  Flag  were 
sung.  During  the  singing  some  of  the  older 
guards  were  seen  leaning  and  trembling  over  their 
muskets,  and  crying  like  children.  The  enthu- 
siasm and  noise  became  so  great  that  the  long 
roll  was  sounded  by  the  Confederates  outside,  the 
artillery  was  manned,  the  infantry  stood  at  their 
guns,  and  the  commandant  ordered  us  to  repair 
to  our  quarters  and  remain  quiet. — Prisoners  and 
Military  Prisons. 

A  Great  Day  at  Sumter. 

Just  four  years  after  the  flag  was  hauled  down 
at  Sumter,  there  was  a  memorable  gathering  at 
the  old  fort.  It  was  on  the  very  day  Lincoln  was 
assassinated.  The  self-same  flag,  shattered  by 
shell  in  the  bombardment  of  '61,  was  to  be  re- 


104        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

hoisted.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  requested  by 
Lincoln  to  go  to  Sumter  and  deliver  the  oration. 
It  was  a  great  day  for  "Old  Glory." 

After  the  cannon  had  given  many  emphatic  ex- 
pressions of  exultant  gladness,  the  flag  was  uncov- 
ered at  the  base  of  the  staff,  and  a  ripple  of  ap- 
plause passed  over  the  multitude,  but  this  was 
hushed  as  if  by  the  breath  of  God,  and  the  pent-up 
feelings  of  the  great  orator  and  of  the  vast  con- 
course, broke  out  in  tears  and  sobs  of  joy.  But 
when  Major  Anderson,  with  his  own  hands, 
hoisted  the  flag,  and  it  floated  beautifully  out  in 
the  charming  breeze  of  a  perfect  day,  the  band 
struck  up  The  Star  Spangled  Banner,  and  the 
people  gave  their  patriotic  emotions  full  sway  in 
singing  the  song  of  the  triumphal  flag. 

Two  Wisconsin  Flags  of  Historic 
Interest. 

The  Second  "Wisconsin  Infantry  was  a  part 
of  the  Iron  Brigade.  In  the  battle  of  Antietam, 
September  seventeenth,  1862,  all  the  color-guards 
of  the  regiment  were  either  killed  or  wounded. 
At  Gettysburg,  in  July,  1863,  nearly  one-third  of 
the  regiment  was  cut  down  by  the  first  fire  received 
from  the  Confederate  forces,  this  work  of  human 
destruction  being  accomplished  in  less  than  thirty 
minutes.  When  the  last  color-bearer  was  killed, 
Private  K.  E.  Davison  picked  up  the  flag  and  un- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       105 

furled  it  in  front  of  the  regiment  when  a  charge 
was  made  bj  the  brigade.  It  is  said  that  when 
night  came  after  the  first  day's  battle,  only  fifty 
men  out  of  the  three  hundred  who  were  in  the 
charge,  answered  to  the  roll-call.  "Old  Glory"  was 
present,  though  it  had  fallen  many  times  during 
the  day.  Few  battle-flags  were  so  completely  torn 
by  bullet  and  shell  as  that  of  the  Fifth  Wisconsin, 
and  when  Gettysburg  was  fought  and  won,  it 
could  be  no  longer  carried  in  battle,  and  was  re- 
turned to  the  State. 

The  Sixth  Wisconsin  Infantry  was  also  at 
Gettysburg,  and  in  the  "railroad  cut,"  where  the 
regiment  saw  desperate  fighting,  the  colors  went 
down  seven  times;  but  each  time  were  raised  by 
the  color-guard,  every  man  of  whom  was  killed  or 
wounded.  The  Second  Mississippi  Infantry  was 
in  front  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin,  and  the  latter, 
regardless  of  the  cost,  determined  to  make  an 
effort  to  capture  the  Confederate  colors.  Private 
Lewis  W.  Eggleston,  a  mere  boy,  rushed  forward 
to  seize  them,  and  was  instantly  shot  down,  when 
Private  Henry  Anderson  immediately  dealt  a 
crushing  blow  with  his  musket  upon  the  head  of 
the  Confederate  who  shot  him,  splitting  his  skull. 
Lieutenant  Remington  (?)  was  mortally  wounded 
while  attempting  to  reach  the  colors,  but  Corporal 
Francis  Walker,  with  undaunted  courage,  sprang 
forward,  grasped  the  flag,  successfully  holding  it. 


106        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 
To  Encourage  the  Use  of  Flags. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  doubtless 
inspired  by  its  results,  Mr.  Jacob  Ross  of  Charles- 
town,  Massachusetts,  bequeathed  to  that  city  sev- 
eral thousand  dollars,  the  interest  to  be  expended 
in  United  States  flags,  in  the  celebration  of  the 
Fourth  of  July,  and  in  perpetuating  the  name  of 
Andrew  Jackson.  He  also  gave  to  the  town  of 
Cornish,  New  Hampshire,  his  native  place,  the 
sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  to  be  kept  at  interest, 
the  annual  income  therefrom  to  be  expended  in 
the  purchase  and  erection  of  flags.  No  mottoes 
are  to  be  emblazoned  on  these  flags,  nor  are  they 
to  be  used  for  party  purposes ;  but  on  all  important 
occasions  of  a  national  character  they  are  to  be 
hoisted  to  the  breeze  and  kept  flying. — Boston 
Herald,  1869. 

Germans  Salute  Our  Flag. 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War,  in  1870,  Emperor  William  and  his 
son,  the  Crown  Prince  (afterwards  Frederick  III., 
Emperor  of  Germany  and  King  of  Prussia  from 
March  ninth  to  June  fifteenth,  1888),  passed 
through  Hamburg  on  their  way  to  the  field.  A 
young  American  girl,  stopping  with  her  parents 
at  one  of  the  hotels,  displayed  a  large  American 
flag  from  the  balcony,  and,  as  the  Emperor  and 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        107 

the  Crown  Prince  passed,  she  waved  her  handker- 
chief. They  looked  up  and  bowed  pleasantly,  and 
the  Prince,  who  afterwards  won  great  honors  at 
the  battle  of  Sedan,  ordered  each  regiment  as  it 
marched  by  to  salute  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

First  Salute  to  the  American  Flag. 

A  great  stickler  for  his  rights  and  for  the  pre- 
rogatives of  his  station,  was  John  Paul  Jones. 
In  this  instance  (on  the  Ranger  in  Quiberon  Bay), 
"he  was  maintaining  the  dignity  of  the  United 
States  by  insisting  upon  a  proper  recognition  of 
his  command.  However,  having  learned  after- 
wards that  the  contention  of  the  French  Admiral 
La  Motte  Piquet,  was  correct,  Jones  realizing  with 
his  usual  keenness  that  the  gist  of  the  matter  lay 
in  receiving  any  salute  rather  than  in  the  number 
of  guns  which  it  composed" ;  so  the  Ranger  got 
under  way  late  in  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth  of 
February,  1778,  and  beat  in  toward  the  harbor. 
It  was  almost  dark  when  she  drew  abreast  the 
great  French  flag-ship.  Backing  his  main-topsail, 
the  six-pounder  on  the  main  deck  of  the  Ranger 
barked  out  their  salute  of  thirteen  guns,  which  was 
promptly  returned  by  the  French  commander  with 
nine  heavy  guns  from  the  battleship. 

This  was  the  first  time  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
had  been  saluted  on  the  high  seas.  It  was,  in  fact, 
the  first  official  recognition  of  this  new  power  by 


108        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

the  authorized  military  representatives  of  any  civ- 
ilized ISTation.  As  this  little  transaction  between 
Paul  Jones  and  La  Motte  Piquet  had  occurred  so 
late  at  night,  the  American  sent  word  to  the 
Frenchman  that  he  proposed  to  sail  through  his 
lines  in  broad  daylight  on  the  morrow,  with  the 
brig  Independence  temporarily  attached  to  his 
command,  and  salute  him  in  open  light  of  day. 
With  great  good  humor,  La  Motte  Piquet  again  ex- 
pressed his  intention  of  responding.  Accordingly 
the  next  morning,  Jones  repaired  on  board  the 
Independence,  and,  having  made  everything  as 
smart  and  as  shipshape  as  possible,  with  the  newest 
and  brightest  of  American  ensigns  flying  from 
every  masthead,  the  little  brig  sailed  past  the  tow- 
ering wall  of  the  great  ship  of  the  French  line, 
saluting  and  receiving  their  reply.  There  were 
no  doubts  in  anyone's  mind  as  to  the  reality  of 
the  salute  to  the  flag  after  that! 

It  must  have  been  a  proud  moment  for  the  man 
who  hoisted  the  pine  tree  flag  for  the  first  time  on 
the  Alfred;  for  the  man  who  had  been  the  first 
officer  of  the  American  navy  to  receive  promotion ; 
for  the  man  who  first  flung  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
to  the  breeze  from  the  masthead  of  a  ship ;  for  the 
man  who — his  little  vessel,  trifling  and  inconsid- 
erable as  she  was — was  yet  about  to  maintain  the 
honor  of  that  flag  with  unexampled  heroism  in  the 
home  waters  and  in  the  presence  of  the  proudest, 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       109 

most  splendid  and  most  efficient  navy  in  the  world. 
That  fifteenth  of  February,  that  bright,  cold,  clear 
winter  morning,  is  one  of  the  memorable  anni- 
versaries in  the  history  of  our  Nation. — Cyrus  T. 
Brady,  in  Great  Commanders'  Series. 

The  Flag  a  Protection  Abroad. 

The  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of 
State  under  Lincoln  and  Johnson,  once  related  the 
following  incident  of  his  travels  in  Egypt :  "One 
day  our  party,  made  up  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
on  horseback,  were  ascending  a  hill  when  we  ob- 
served one  of  the  war  parties  that  infest  the 
country,  closely  following  us;  and  when  we 
reached  the  top  of  the  hill  we  met  another  of 
those  war  parties,  and  they  were  enemies  about 
to  engage  in  mortal  conflict.  Here  we  were,  a 
party  of  Americans,  between  these  two  contending 
forces — what  to  do,  at  first  none  of  us  knew,  but 
what  we  did  do  was  this — we  took  from  a  port- 
manteau the  American  flag,  and,  riding  a  little 
way  to  the  side  of  the  road,  we  threw  that  flag  over 
the  limb  of  a  tree,  and  it  was  instantly  recognized 
by  both  of  those  contending  war  parties,  and  we 
sat  down  beneath  it,  as  safe  as  if  we  had  been 
sitting  in  the  shadow  of  our  own  capitol  in  Wash- 
ington." Away  from  home,  across  the  wide 
ocean,  in  a  strange  land,  "Old  Glory"  gave  com- 
plete protection  to  that  party  of  American  ladies 


110       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

and  gentlemen.  Everywhere  on  land,  everywhere 
on  the  ocean,  where  the  white  wings  of  com- 
merce fly,  among  all  people  in  whose  language  the 
word  "liberty"  is  known,  that  flag  is  respected  and 
honored. 

The  Flag  at  a  Great  Altitude. 

Some  claim  that  the  greatest  altitude  to  which 
the  American  flag  was  ever  hoisted  in  this  country 
was  at  Everett,  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  J.  C.  Mc- 
Gonagle  of  that  place,  writing  to  the  New  York 
Tribune,  says  the  flag  was  thirty-six  by  twenty- 
eight  feet,  and  was  suspended  on  a  wire  cable 
3,200  feet  long,  being  stretched  from  mountain  to 
mountain,  which  made  the  flag  float  some  seven 
hundred  feet  above  the  earth. 

Home-Made  Flag  Material. 

A  good  piece  of  history  connected  with  the  flag 
of  our  country  is  that  relating  to  the  material  out 
of  which  our  flags  are  made.  It  is  a  strange  fact 
that  for  eighty-nine  years  after  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  were  adopted  by  the  American  Congress, 
they  were  made  of  foreign  material.  All  through 
the  war  of  1812,  and  even  through  the  Civil  War, 
no  American  soldier  marched  or  fought  under  a 
yard  of  American  bunting.  The  reasons  for  this 
condition  of  things  were  two :  First,  no  one  knew 
how  to  make  it;  and  second,  no  manufacturer 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        ill 

dared  to  invest  money  in  the  bunting  enterprise 
because  he  could  not  compete  with  Great  Britain, 
for  there  was  no  protection  duty  on  flag  bunting. 

General  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  at  the  request 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  undertook,  with  the  aid 
of  some  young  friends  in  Lowell,  Massachusetts, 
to  make  a  good  article  of  flag  bunting.  A  man 
was  sent  to  England  to  learn  the  process  of  making 
it.  In  1865,  Congress  put  a  duty  of  forty  per 
cent,  on  bunting,  and  that  afforded  ample  pro- 
tection. Twelve  looms  were  first  started  at  Low- 
ell, and  the  business  increased  so  rapidly  that 
within  twelve  years  thirteen  thousand  looms  were 
engaged  in  making  bunting  that  could  not  be  sur- 
passed in  quality  by  that  manufactured  in  Great 
Britain.  More  than  that,  the  price  of  bunting 
was  cut  down  from  thirty  dollars  and  thirty-five 
dollars  a  piece,  to  eighteen  dollars. 

It  is  worthy  of  special  note  that  the  first  Amer- 
ican flag,  made  of  American  bunting,  was  hoisted 
over  the  capitol  at  Washington  in  February,  1866. 
It  was  twenty-one  feet  by  twelve  feet,  and  was 
the  gift  of  General  Butler. 

The  Flag  in  London. 

In  November,  1881,  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 
don held  a  "Show,"  or  perhaps  more  properly 
speaking,  the  event  was  the  Lord  Mayor's  Day. 
It  was  a  great  day  for  Londoners,  and  was  par- 


132       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

ticularly  an  interesting  day  for  Americans,  of 
whom  a  large  number  were  in  the  city.  When  the 
Lord  Mayor,  and  other  distinguished  Englishmen, 
and  some  Americans,  rode  through  the  streets  in 
splendid  form,  the  flag  of  the  United  States  was 
borne  first  before  the  Sheriffs  in  their  state  car- 
riages. A  roar  of  cheering  greeted  the  flag 
throughout  the  entire  route.  It  was  an  unprec- 
edented thing  that  the  flag  of  a  foreign  country 
should  be  carried  through  the  streets  of  London 
from  the  Guildhall  to  Westminster  and  back 
again  with  a  guard  of  honor  attending  it,  and 
cheers  attending  its  progress. 

The  drums  and  fifes  of  the  city  of  London 
Regiment  supplied  the  music,  and  a  company  of 
sergeants,  detailed  from  the  same  regiment,  es- 
corted the  flag;  and  the  people  did  the  shouting. 
One  writer  says  that  at  every  point  in  the  route 
the  appearance  of  the  famous  ensign  of  the  States 
was  the  signal  for  outbursts  of  cheering,  which 
was  especially  noticeable  by  St.  Martin's  Church, 
and  the  New  Law  Courts,  at  Charing  Cross,  and 
opposite  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  West- 
minster bridge.  And  during  the  movement  of 
this  pageant,  the  bands  frequently  played  the 
Star  Spangled  Banner.  Perhaps  no  flag  of  any 
other  foreign  power  in  the  world  would  have  been 
so  much  honored  on  such  an  occasion  by  the  high 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       113 

officials  of  London. — George  W.  Smilley,  in  N.  Y. 
Tribune  (1881). 

Captured  Battle  Flags. 

In  the  War  Department  at  Washington  there 
are  750  captured  battle  flags.  Five  hundred  of 
them  were  taken  from  the  Confederates,  and  the 
remainder  are  Federal  flags  recaptured  from  their 
captors. 

William  Jackson  Armstrong  of  Washington, 
has  written  an  interesting  description  of  these  to- 
kens of  the  greatest  civil  war  the  world  has  seen. 
The  article  appeared  in  the  New  York  World  in 
July,  1887,  from  which  I  take  some  extracts. 

The  contrast  in  the  appearance  of  the  Southern 
and  Union  standards  is  significant  of  the  history 
of  the  war.  The  latter  are  rigged  on  clean,  pol- 
ished poles  and  are  of  firm,  rich  material,  many 
of  them  silk,  showing  an  abundance  in  the  North 
of  the  fabrics  of  which  they  were  made.  The  ma- 
jority of  the  Confederate  flags  are  of  the  wretch- 
edest,  shoddy  bunting,  miserable  in  color,  as  in 
substance,  while  great  numbers  of  them  are 
mounted  on  rude,  unbarked  poles  or  saplings — 
recalling  the  blockade  and  the  pinching  days  when 
war  had  fallen  on  a  section  without  manufactures, 
and  the  intense  desperate  purpose  of  a  people  for- 
got seemliness,  and  absorbed  every  thought  but  the 
winning  of  the  fight. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

A  study  of  the  records  kept  by  the  War  De- 
partment of  the  name  and  capture  of  each  of  these 
flags,  though  a  work  of  many  days,  would  be  of 
intense  interest  to  the  veteran  soldier.  The  sight 
of  these  flags  themselves  would  quicken  the  sol- 
dier's heart-beat  with  memories  of  the  great  strug- 
gle. That  not  a  few  of  these  standards  have  been 
the  centres  of  deadly  personal  encounters  is  evi- 
dent from  the  numerous  blood-stains  still  traceable 
upon  them.  Everything,  in  fact,  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  whole  collection,  faded  and  soiled  and 
tattered,  shows  that  these  are  no  banners  of  holiday 
parade,  but  have  passed  through  the  fire  of  ex- 
tremity and  actual  war — the  sorrowful  weeds 
blasted  and  fallen  from  its  wrath. 

I  recall  the  stirring  incident  of  some  of  these 
flags  in  the  War  Department  as  they  were  brought 
straight  from  the  field  of  their  capture.  On  one 
of  these  occasions  thirty  of  these  standards  were 
carried  here  two  days  after  the  battle  of  Win- 
chester, by  a  delegation  of  soldiers  whose  hands 
had  actually  seized  them  in  the  fight,  Ouster  with 
his  long  yellow  hair  at  their  head.  Stanton,  the 
.grim  Secretary  of  War,  unbent.  Stanton  loved 
results,  and  these  were  the  palpable  evidences  of 
triumph.  Coming  out  of  the  lion's  den  of  his 
office,  he  took  each  soldier  by  the  hand  and  wel- 
comed them  as  a  body,  with  a  speech.  When  the 
affair  was  over  the  soldiers  started  again  for  the 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        115 

field,  and  Stanton,  taking  General  Ouster's  arm, 
walked  slowly  down  the  steps  of  the  War  Office. 
Such  was  his  habit  with  any  of  the  brilliant  lead- 
ers of  the  war  after  a  visit  to  his  department. 

The  Stars  and  Stripes  in  Ireland. 

Two  or  three  incidents  associated  with  our 
Nation's  flag  in  Ireland  have  impressed  me 
deeply.  One  was  its  first  and  unexpected  beholding 
by  an  Americal  girl  whose  father  had  been  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Civil  War.  Tears  unbidden  sprang  to 
resplendent  eyes  and  a  heart  swelled  with  exulta- 
tion— denoting  more  eloquently  than  words  the 
passionate  love  of  country  characteristic  of  Amer- 
ican women,  which  has  made  puissant  the  arm  of 
the  American  soldier. 

Another  was  the  fervent  salutation  of  the  flag 
in  homely  speech  by  a  native  peasant  woman — an 
octogenarian  who  had  lost  her  only  son  in  the  war 
for  the  Union,  and  whose  sole  dependence  was  the 
pension  she  was  receiving.  To  her  the  flag  spoke 
of  sacrifice  and  yet,  next  to  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
it  was  to  her  the  most  precious  emblem. 

The  third  impressive  incident  was  the  display 
of  the  flag  over  an  emigration  bureau  in  the  little 
cathedral  town  of  Cloyne  in  southeast  Ireland, 
witnessed  on  the  occasion  of  a  pilgrimage  there ; 
and  curiously  enough,  the  caressing  zephyrs  car- 
ried the  glorious  colors  towards  the  setting  sun, 


116        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

whither  the  most  vigorous  blood  of  Ireland  and  of 
other  European  countries  has  long  coursed.  So 
much  was  divined,  nearly  two  centuries  ago,  by 
the  great  Bishop  Berkeley,  who  was  born  and  lived 
there,  in  his  prophetic  verses,  thus  ending: 

"Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way; 

The  first  four  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  of  the  day; 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

— Alexander  J.  Reid,  Wisconsin  (U.  S.  Consul, 
Dublin,  1889-92). 

A  Flag  Presented  to  Lincoln. 

What  more  beautiful  conception  than  that 
which  prompted  Mr.  Abram  Kohn  of  Chicago  in 
February,  1861,  to  send  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  eve 
of  his  starting  to  Washington  to  take  the  office 
of  President,  to  which  he  had  been  elected,  a  flag 
of  our  country  bearing  upon  its  silken  folds  these 
words  from  the  fifth  and  ninth  verses  of  the  first 
chapter  of  Joshua:  "Have  I  not  commanded 
thee,  be  strong  and  of  good  courage?  Be  not 
afraid !  Neither  be  thou  dismayed,  for  the  Lord, 
our  God,  is  with  thee,  whithersoever  thou  goest. 
There  shall  no  man  be  able  to  stand  before  thee  all 
the  days  of  thy  life.  As  I  was  with  Moses,  so 
shall  I  be  with  thee.  I  will  not  fail  thee  nor  for- 
sake thee." 

Could  anything  have  given  Mr.  Lincoln  more 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        117 

cheer,  or  been  better  calculated  to  sustain  his  cour- 
age or  strengthen  his  faith  in  the  mighty  work 
before  him  ?  Thus  commanded,  thus  assured,  Mr. 
Lincoln  journeyed  to  the  capital,  where  he  took  the 
oath  of  office  and  registered  in  heaven  an  oath  to 
save  the  Union;  and  "the  Lord  our  God"  was 
with  him  and  did  not  fail  nor  forsake  him  until 
every  obligation  of  oath  and  duty  was  sacredly 
kept  and  honored.  Not  any  man  was  able  to 
stand  before  him.  Liberty  was  enthroned,  the 
Union  was  saved,  and  the  flag  which  he  carried 
floated  in  triumph  and  glory  upon  every  flagstaff 
of  the  Republic. — William  McKinley  (Cleveland, 
1894). 

The  Sumter  Flag  After  Many  Years. 

Thirty  years  after  that  new  upraising  of  the 
old  flag  at  Sumter,  on  April  fourteenth,  1895, 
there  was  a  gathering  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  of 
soldiers  and  sailors  who  had  served  in  war  time 
in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Sumter,  in  the  successful 
effort  to  restore  that  flag  to  its  place.  Every 
officer  and  man  present  had  battled  and  endured 
in  the  trenches  of  the  sea  islands,  or  had  done  ser- 
vice in  the  vessels  of  the  navy  before  Charleston 
harbor  or  off  Fort  Sumter.  General  Stewart  L. 
Woodford,  afterwards  our  Minister  to  Spain,  pre- 
sided. That  identical  flag,  which  had  been  lowered 
by  General  Anderson  in  1861,  and  raised  by  him 


118        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

again  in  1865,  and  which  had  not  afterwards 
been  seen  in  public  since  it  was  wrapped  about 
his  coffin  in  1871,  was  once  more  exhibited,  by  the 
favor  of  Mrs.  Anderson,  who  had  it  in  keeping. 
It  was  stretched  across  the  platform  behind  the 
patriotic  speakers.  Its  rents  from  shot  and  shell 
were  more  eloquent  than  Caesar's  gaping  wounds, 
telling  their  story  by  their  "poor  dumb  mouths." 
It  was  accompanied  to  that  gathering,  at  the 
special  request  of  Mrs.  Anderson,  by  members  of 
the  old  Anderson's  Zouaves  as  a  body  guard  of 
honor.  As  one  and  another  of  the  officers  who 
spoke  pointed  to  that  old  flag,  and  reminded  us 
all  of  what  it  had  stood  for,  and  of  what  it  had 
cost,  in  those  four  years  of  war,  to  restore  it  to 
its  rightful  supremacy,  the  scene  was  dramatic 
and  impressive.  All  realized  the  worth  of  that 
flag,  and  the  value  of  the  efforts  to  restore  its 
supremacy. — Dr.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  Army 
Chaplain  (1895). 

Hymn  to  the  Flag. 

The  greatest  flag  day  ever  known  in  the  United 
States  was  the  thirty-first  of  October,  1896. 
Hundred  of  thousands  of  flags  were  flying  all  over 
the  country.  Editorially,  The  Tribune  of  New 
York  said,  on  November  first  of  that  year :  "The 
flag  of  the  United  States  was  everywhere  on  Sat- 
urday. It  never  looked  more  beautiful,  and  it 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        H9 

never  waved  in  a  better  cause.  It  symbolized, 
as  always,  union,  freedom,  honor  and  power. 
New  York  was  aflame  with  the  National  colors, 
and  the  splendid  sight  was  made  more  impressive 
by  the  thought  that  they  were  flying  all  over  the 
country,  expressing  the  same  ardent  hope  and  in- 
vincible determination.  There  was  no  narrow 
partisanship  in  the  demonstration.  It  rose  far 
above  that.  It  was  an  uprising  of  patriots  in- 
spired by  a  sentiment  as  deep,  and  as  pure,  as  that 
which  obliterated  party  distinction  thirty-five 
years  ago."  It  was  during  this  time  when  the 
country  was  enthusiastically  cheering  the  Star 
Spangled  Banner,  that  Mr.  Anson  A.  Gard  of 
New  York  City,  contributed  to  The  Tribune  the 
following  "Hymn  to  the  Flag" : 

"Our   country's    flag   we    raise, 
Each  star  and  stripe  we  praise, 

Emblem  we  love. 
Banner  of  liberty 
Float  o'er  our  country  free; 
Honors  we  give  to  thee, 

Wave  thou  above. 

"Wave  thou  our  Nation's  pride, 
O'er  vale  and  mountain  side, 

Glorious    and   free. 
If  on  the  battle  field, 
Our  lines  we're  called  to  yield 
Thy  fold  we'll  ever  shield; 

We'll  follow  thee. 


120        OUR  NAriON'S  FLAG. 

"Our  ships  in  every  clime 
Bear  thee  aloft  sublime, 

Thou  art  supreme. 
Banner  of  azure  hue, 
Float  o'er  our  brave  and  true, 
No  foe  shall  e'er  undo 

Thy   hold   supreme. 

"Our  flag  now  floats  above 
Brothers  in  holy  love; 

Both  blue  and  gray. 
No  foreign  foe  dare  tread 
On  lands  thy  stars  o'er  spread; 
Thy  stripes  all  nations  dread 

Wave  thou  alway." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  lines  can  be  sung 
to  the  popular  tune,  America.  It  seems  to  be 
a  worthy  hymn  for  patriotic  occasions. 

A  Boom  in  the  Flag  Trade. 

In  March,  1896,  the  Hon.  Nathan  Goff,  Jr., 
of  Clarksburg,  West  Virginia,  called  at  the  ware- 
rooms  of  a  large  flag  factory  in  New  York  City, 
and  said :  "I  have  read  your  advertisement  regard- 
ing the  National  Colors,  and  have  come  all  the  way 
from  my  Virginian  home  to  arrange  for  some  dec- 
orations. I  am  going  to  educate  the  people 
down  in  my  part  of  the  Union  to  respect  the  flag 
of  our  country."  Mr.  Goff  then  gave  his  order 
for  nine  flags  for  private  use  at  his  own  home. 
One  was  20  by  12  feet;  two  15  by  10  feet;  two 
12  by  8  feet;  two  8  by  5  feet;  and  two  6  by  4 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       121 

feet.  The  gentleman  in  charge  of  the  factory 
said  this  was  only  one  of  many  incidents  which 
proved  that  patriotism  was  on  an  increase  in  this 
country.  The  firm  had  been  in  business  since 
1830,  but  this  was  the  first  time  in  its  history  that 
it  had  a  flag  boom  in  mid-winter.  Orders,  he  said, 
for  American  flags,  were  constantly  coming  from 
every  part  of  the  habitable  globe — from  Dead- 
wood,  South  Dakota,  to  the  Transvaal  in  far-off 
South  Africa. 

At  no  period  between  the  Civil  War,  and  the 
war  with  Spain  in  1898,  was  the  spirit  of  George 
P.  Morris'  inspiring  lines  more  genuinely  man- 
ifested by  the  American  people  than  in  1896 : 

"A  song  for  our  banner!     The  watchword  recall 

Which  gave  the  Republic  her  station; 
'United   we   stand — divided   we   fall!' 

It  made  and  preserved  us  a  nation ! 
The  union  of  lakes,  the  union  of  lands, 

The  union  of  States  none  can  sever, 
The  union  of  hearts,  the  union  of  hands, 

And  the  flag  of  our  Union  forever!" 

The  Flag  Has  Never  Known  Defeat. 

While  Charles  L.  Benjamin  and  George  D. 
Sutton  were  at  Camp  Alger,  Virginia,  during  the 
war  with  Spain  in  1898,  they  wrote  of  "The  Flag 
that  has  jSTever  Known  Defeat."  The  words  may 
be  considered  a  brief,  but  stirring  chapter  of  the 
history  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes : 


122       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

"On  history's  crimson  pages,  high  up  on  the  roll  of  fame, 
The  story  of  Old  Glory  burns,  in  deathless  words  of  flame. 
'Twas  cradled  in  war's  blinding  smoke,  amid  the  roar  of 

guns, 

Its  lullabies  were  battle-cries,  the  shouts  of  freedom's  sons; 
It  is  the  old  red,  white,  and  blue,  proud  emblem  of  the  free, 
It  is  the  flag  that  floats  above  our  land  of  liberty. 
Then  greet  it,  when  you  meet  it,  boys,  the  flag  that  waves 

on  high; 
And  hats  off,  all  along  the  line,  when  freedom's  flag  goes  by. 

"All  honor  to   the   Stars  and  Stripes,   our  glory  and  our 

pride. 

All  honor  to  the  flag  for  which  our  fathers  fought  and  died; 
On  many  a  blood-stained  battlefield,  on  many  a  gory  sea, 
The  flag  has  triumphed,  evermore  triumphant  may  it  be. 
And   since   again,   mid  shot   and   shell,    its   folds   must  be 

unfurled, 
God  grant  that  we  may  keep  it  still  unstained  before  the 

world. 

All  hail  the  flag  we  love,  may  it  victorious  ever  fly, 
And  hats  off,  all  along  the  line,  when  freedom's  flag  goes 

by." 

The  war's  enthusiasm  enabled  Mary  Dowling 
Sutton  to  set  the  words  to  adequate  music,  and  to 
the  close  of  the  war  it  was  largely  popular. 

British  Honoring  the  Flag. 

Significant  of  the  friendliness  which  exists 
at  the  present  moment  between  Great  Britain  and 
this  country  is  the  display  by  the  representatives 
of  the  English  insurance  companies  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Pine  and  Williams  Streets  of  "Old 
Glory"  and  the  Union  Jack.  Symbolical  of  the 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       123 

sympathy  which  England  extends  to  America  in 
her  struggle  for  justice  and  humanity,  the  two 
flags  are  hung  side  by  side,  while  the  entrance  halls 
of  some  of  the  British  offices  are  draped  with  en- 
twinements  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  the 
British  flag.  Mention  should  be  made  also  that 
what  is  said  to  be  the  largest  flag  ever  seen  in  this 
city  was  suspended  yesterday  between  the  two 
spires  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral.  Its  size  is  40 
by  35  feet.  The  last  time  "Old  Glory"  floated 
from  the  spires  of  the  Cathedral  was  during  the 
Columbian  celebration  (New  York,  May  5,  1898). 

Children  and  the  Flag. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  corner 
stone  of  the  dormitory  at  jSTorthfield,  Massachu- 
setts, with  a  number  of  others  I  stood  on  the  piazza 
of  Mr.  Moody's  house  when  the  children  of  the 
two  schools,  three  hundred  boys  and  as  many  girls, 
marched  up.  Flags  were  scarce,  a  few  only  being 
carried  by  the  children.  Things  for  a  moment 
seemed  rather  dull,  when  Mr.  Moody,  grasping 
the  situation  at  once,  said:  "Come,  we  must  do 
something  to  give  these  children  a  send-off." 
Looking  at  his  little  grandchild,  who  stood  by  his 
side  holding  a  flag,  he  said: 

"Give  me  that  flag,  quick!"  He  took  it,  and 
waving  it  in  the  air  began  cheering  the  children, 
and  instantaneously  such  a  shout  went  up  from 


124       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

those  hundreds  of  little  throats  as  only  the  sight 
of  the  Stars  and  Stripes  could  call  forth. 

I  recall  another  occasion,  twelve  or  fifteen 
years  ago,  when  the  schools  of  the  Home  for  the 
Friendless  celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
that  institution.  There  were  six  hundred  or  seven 
hundred  poor  little  children  gathered  in  Madison 
Square  Garden,  every  one  of  them  carrying  an 
American  flag.  At  a  signal  from  the  superin- 
tendent they  all  stood  up  and  waved  the  flags  while 
they  sang  the  National  hymn.  I  shall  never  for- 
get that  sight.  I  do  not  believe  there  was  a  dry 
eye  in  the  house. — Mrs.  Russell  Sage  (New  York 
Tribune,  1898). 

Carrying  the  Flag  Through  England. 

The  Americans,  jealous  of  the  honor  of  their 
flag,  have  sometimes,  to  our  insular  notions,  a 
rather  odd  way  of  showing  it.  Some  of  our  read- 
ers will  remember  how  an  American,  some  time 
ago,  undertook  to  carry  the  flag  of  his  country 
through  England.  Whatever  visions  he  or  his 
compatriots  may  have  had  of  his  defending  it 
against  hostile  attacks  were  soon  proven  baseless. 
Englishmen,  cela  va  sans  dire  (it  goes  without 
saying),  have  no  hostility  to  the  Americans,  and 
the  populace — urban,  suburban,  and  rural — every- 
where entered  into  the  humor  of  the  thing,  and 
cheered  the  gallant  sergeant  and  his  bunting 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        125 

wherever  he  appeared.  All  the  risk  and  terror 
of  the  exploit  melted  away  in  general  acclamation 
and  hearty  welcome. 

An  Englishman  told  us  that  in  descending  a 
mountain  in  Norway  he  met  an  American  carry- 
ing something  rolled  up;  he  unfolded  it,  and  dis- 
played the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  said  that  he  had 
brought  it  to  plant  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 
Why  he  should  do  so  is  by  no  means  apparent; 
but  still,  as  it  pleased  him  and  hurt  no  one  else, 
it  would  be  churlish  indeed  to  demur  to  so  inno- 
cent a  pastime.  Our  friend  courteously  raised 
his  hat  to  the  symbol  of  the  great  daughter  Nation 
over  the  sea,  whereupon  the  American  heartily  re- 
ciprocated, saying,  "Thanks,  stranger;  and  here's 
to  the  Union  Jack." — Edward  Hulme,  London 
(in  Flags  of  the  World,  1898). 

The  Original  "Old  Glory.' 

I  am  indebted  to  the  Boston  Globe  for  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  the  origin  of  the  name  "Old 
Glory" : 

The  flag  was  named  "Old  Glory"  in  1831  by  a 
Salem  (Massachusetts)  skipper  named  William 
Driver.  He  was  at  that  time  captain  of  the  brig 
Charles  Doggett.  He  was  a  successful  deep-sea 
sailor,  and  was  preparing  the  brig  for  a  voyage 
to  the  Southern  Pacific.  Just  before  the  brig  left 
Salem,  a  young  man  at  the  head  of  a  party  of 


126        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

friends,  saluted  Captain  Driver  on  the  deck  of 
the  Dogge.it,  and  presented  him  with  a  large  and 
beautifully  made  American  flag.  When  it  was 
sent  aloft  and  broke  out  to  the  air,  Captain  Driver 
christened  it  "Old  Glory."  He  took  it  to  the 
South  Pacific,  and  years  after,  when  old  age  forced 
him  to  relinquish  the  sea,  he  treasured  the  flag. 

Captain  Driver  settled  in  Nashville  in  1837, 
and  previous  to  the  Civil  War  the  flag  was  dis- 
played from  the  window  of  the  Captain's  house, 
but  at  the  beginning  of  hostilities  it  was  struck 
by  bullets,  whereupon  it  was  kept  in  out  of  sight 
until  February  twenty-seven,  1862,  when  General 
Nelson  (shot  to  death  by  General  Jefferson  C. 
Davis,  Louisville,  September  twenty-nine,  1862) 
appeared  at  Nashville  with  a  division  of  the  Union 
army.  Captain  Driver  presented  the  flag  to  the 
general,  to  be  hoisted  on  the  capitol.  The  original 
"Old  Glory"  could  not  endure  wind  and  storm, 
and  was  carefully  stored  away,  and  after  the  death 
of  the  captain  in  March,  1886,  the  flag  was  pre- 
sented by  the  compiler  of  the  Driver  memoir  to 
the  Essex  Institute,  at  Salem,  where  it  is  se- 
curely kept  (1898). 

Old  Glory  at  Santiago. 

One  of  the  most  thrilling  incidents  in  the 
aimals  of  war,  showing  the  inspiring  influence  of 
the  flag,  occurred  on  the  ramparts  of  Santiago 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        127 

on  that  memorable  Friday,  July  first,  1898.  I 
believe  it  was  in  the  Twenty-first  Regulars,  that 
man  after  man  was  fast  falling  in  blood  and  death 
before  a  blazing  fire  of  Mauser  bullets,  when  the 
soldiers  catching  a  fresh  gleam  of  the  flag  at  a 
critical  moment,  spontaneously  began  to  sing  "The 
Star  Spangled  Banner,"  and  its  majestic  strains 
so  stirred  the  souls  of  the  men  that  they  seemed  to 
be  nerved,  as  if  by  some  superhuman  power,  to 
defy  the  storm  of  battle,  and  thus  they  won  the 
victory  that  sealed  the  fate  of  Santiago. 

The  Flag  an  Object  Lesson. 

Mrs.  Russell  Sage,  writing  to  the  iSTew  York 
Tribune,  says:  "My  attention  has  been  recently 
called  to  the  expressions  of  opinion  in  your  paper 
regarding  the  use  of  our  National  flag.  My  idea 
concerning  our  flag  is  that  it  should  be  displayed 
in  every  place  and  on  all  occasions  and  I  do  not 
think  we  can  ever  see  that  flag  too  often.  !STo 
matter  where  it  appears,  it  is  an  evidence  of  pa- 
trotism.  I  could  recall  different  times  when  the 
sight  of  our  flag  made  such  an  impression  on  my 
mind,  and  filled  my  heart  with  so  much  of  love 
for  its  every  star  and  stripe,  that  the  occasions  on 
which  those  sentiments  were  so  deeply  aroused 
stand  out  in  the  light  of  events ;  they  are  like 
mile-stones  along  my  path  through  life. 


128        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

"I  clearly  remember  the  raising  of  'Old  Glory' 
at  the  Highlands  of  ISTavesink.  It  was  in  the 
spring  of  Centennial  year,  1876,  and  up  to  that 
time  there  was  not  a  flag  belonging  to  the  Govern- 
ment flying  from  a  port  in  this  country.  This 
flag  was  bought  and  paid  for  by  subscription,  and 
an  act  of  Congress  gave  a  grant  of  a  certain  space 
in  front  of  the  big  Highland  Light  building  for 
a  pole  to  be  erected.  When  all  the  details  were 
arranged,  the  day  for  hoisting  the  flag  was  set, 
and,  with  proper  ceremonies,  the  flag  was  raised 
and  dedicated  to  the  use  of  the  country.  I  was 
one  of  those  whose  privilege  it  was  to  be  present, 
and  it  was  a  red-letter  day  in  my  life !  Every 
clear  day  I  can  see  that  flag  across  the  bay  from 
my  country  home  at  Cedarhurst.  Americans  re- 
turning home  from  abroad  say  it  is  the  most  wel- 
come sight  which  greets  their  eyes." 

A  Pathetic  Incident. 

Colonel  Richard  S.  Thompson  of  the  Illinois 
Commandery,  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion 
of  the  tTnited  States,  was  a  member  of  the  Twelfth 
New  Jersey  Infantry  in  the  Civil  War.  Four 
or  five  years  ago  at  the  commandery  he  gave  an 
account  of  "A  Scrap  at  Gettysburg,"  in  which  he 
related  the  following  touching  incident: 

"A  Confederate  major,  terribly  wounded  with 
buckshot,  was  brought  within  the  line.  He  begged 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       129 

that  he  might  lie  on  the  ground,  and,  after  his 
pain  had  been  somewhat  relieved  by  a  dose  of 
morphia,  he  noticed  our  division  flag,  a  blue  tre- 
foil on  a  white  field.  He  stated  that  before  the 
column  started  they  were  addressed  by  their  offi- 
cers and  told  that  they  would  have  to  meet  nothing 
but  green  Pennsylvania  militia,  and,  he  added: 
'But  when  we  saw  that  old  clover  sheaf  unfurled, 
we  knew  what  kind  of  green  militia  we  had  to 
contend  with.'  The  major  then  turning  his  head 
a  little,  his  eyes,  on  which  the  shadow  of  death 
was  setting,  rested  upon  the  graceful  folds  of  'Old 
Glory.'  An  expression  of  gentle  sadness  came 
over  his  face  as  he  said:  'After  all,  that  is  the 
glorious  old  flag.'  These  were  his  last  words.  A 
blanket  was  laid  over  his  face  and  he  slept  his  last 
sleep.  Who  shall  say  that  in  the  twilight  wherein 
life  sinks  into  death,  there  did  not  come  to  him 
a  feeling  of  loyalty  to  the  grand  old  flag  of  his 
country." 

Patriotism  and  the  F/ag. 

At  the  battle  of  Malverii  Hill  (Virginia,  July 
first,  1862),  a  number  of  boys  in  blue  were  cap- 
tured by  the  Confederates  and  imprisoned  in  Bar- 
rett's tobacco  factory,  Richmond.  These  noble 
men  well-nigh  perished  through  sickness  and  starv- 
ation. Their  sacrifice  only  intensified  their  pa- 
triotism, and  though  under  strict  surveillance,  they 


130       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

determined  to  celebrate  in  some  fitting  way  the  ap- 
proaching Fourth  of  July,  1862.  The  leading 
spirit  in  this  heroic  band  was  Timothy  S.  Regan, 
of  Irish  descent,  and  a  recent  emigrant  from 
Wales.  Though  coming  to  this  country  just  be- 
fore the  war,  he  was  as  ardently  a  patriot  and  an 
American,  as  any  man  in  the  Ninth  Massachu- 
setts, to  which  he  belonged.  To  give  vent  to  their 
pent-up  feelings  and  love  of  country,  they  decided 
to  make  a  flag,  even  though  its  discovery  meant 
death  to  its  possessors. 

"Pathetic  and  beautiful  was  the  task  these 
martyrs  in  the  cause  of  human  liberty  set  them- 
selves. They  must  literally  rob  their  own  bodies 
for  its  accomplishment.  Twenty  or  twenty-five 
men  were  in  this  part  of  the  prison.  A  flannel  shirt 
made  the  ground-work  of  blue.  From  another  shirt 
of  white  cotton,  were  cut  the  stars.  Poor  as  was 
this  garment,  Regan  paid  for  it  the  sum  of  $6.50. 
In  early  twilight,  in  concealment,  and  as  best 
they  could,  the  brave  men  wrought.  The  task  was 
accomplished.  The  flag  was  theirs.  High  up 
among  the  timber  of  the  roof  the  eloquent  banner 
was  unfurled.  Then  as  the  sun  mounted  the  sky 
and  the  day  came  to  its  climax  of  splendor,  these 
sick  and  weary,  hungry,  starving  and  dying  men 
huddled  together  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
Did  ever  patriotism  find  nobler  expression  ?  Did 
ever  the  flag  better  prove  its  power  as  the  symbol 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

of  a  nation's  freedom  and  life  ?  The  flag  was  soon 
taken  down.  As  it  could  not  be  kept  without  peril 
to  life,  it  was  torn  into  strips  and  divided  among 
the  twenty  or  more  men  present.  Each  wound 
around  his  body  as  a  sacred  memento  the  piece 
given  him.  Xor  was  this  the  last  of  this  won- 
drous banner.  The  men  of  the  prison  were  soon 
exchanged.  Regan  was  so  sick  that  his  comrades 
were  compelled  to  support  him  while  standing  in 
line  waiting  for  his  turn.  Wherever  the  liberated 
patriots  went,  their  portion  of  the  flag  went  with 
them.  After  the  war,  by  persistent  correspond- 
ence, Regan  succeeded  in  recovering  every  piece. 
The  last  was  secured  in  1893.  All  were  sewed  to- 
gether, and  the  banner  of  the  prison  days  com- 
pletely restored.  Through  the  recent  death  of 
Regan,  the  unique  flag  became  the  property  of 
Thomas  G.  Stevenson  Post  26,  G.  A.  R.,  Roxbury 
District,  Boston." — The  Rev.  Dwight  M.  Pratt, 
Auburndalc,,  Mass.  (Independent,  1898). 

The  Flag  and  the  Home. 

The  beautiful  home  of  one  of  the  most  hos- 
pitable of  Xew  York's  hostesses,  is  profusely 
draped  witli  the  National  emblem.  When  the 
hostess  was  asked  her  opinion  as  to  the  proper 
display  of  the  flag,  she  said : 

"On  the  interior  of  my  house  I  feel  that  I 
cannot  have  too  great  a  display  of  the  emblem  that 


132        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

means  so  much  to  every  patriotic  heart.  In  my 
husband's  office  and  study  I  have  made  a  panel 
of  the  colors  and  a  drapery  of  the  flag,  and  these 
are  the  first  things  upon  which  a  patient's  eyes 
fall  on  entering  the  room.  Perhaps  the  sight  may 
recall  the  memory  of  pain  or  illness  incurred  vol- 
untarily and  borne  bravely  for  the  sake  of  country 
and  home,  and  the  thought  may  help  some  shrink- 
ing soul  here  to  meet  unflinchingly  the  trial  of 
sickness  and  agony. 

"At  this  time,  too,  when  I  give  a  dinner  to  any 
one  whose  connection  with,  or  sentiments  for,  the 
war  are  of  a  pronounced  nature,  I  like  to  spread 
the  board  with  the  flag  which  stands  for  the  cause. 
On  the  back  of  each  chair  I  hang  some  banner  that 
has  been  baptized  with  fire.  This  is  all  that  I 
do  now.  When  the  strife  is  ended  and  our  soldier 
boys  come  marching  home  again,  then  I  shall 
drape  the  house-front  with  flags  from  basement  to 
roof,  and  fling  the  starry  banner  forth  with  the 
gladdest  exultation  heart  can  feel." — New  York 
Tribune  (1898). 

Southern  Respect  for  the  Flag. 

There  were  many  instances  of  love  for  the  old 
flag  on  the  Southern  side  of  the  dividing  line  in 
war  times.  Even  among  those  who  fought  under 
the  Stars  and  Bars  there  was  not  wholly  lacking 
a  recognition  of  the  superiority  of  the  Stars  and 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        133 

Stripes,  with  their  patriotic  and  inspiring  history 
and  associations  as  a  National  flag.  As  I  talked 
with  a  group  of  Confederate  soldiers  on  my  way 
from  Columbus  to  Richmond  as  a  prisoner  of  war, 
I  was  asked  by  one  why  we  made  such  a  fuss  over 
our  flag,  as  if  that  were  the  only  thing  worth  hav- 
ing and  fighting  for.  Before  I  could  reply, 
another  Confederate  spoke  up  warmly,  as  if  out  of 
the  memories  of  the  Mexican  war,  or  other  na- 
tional service: 

"Oh,  well !  as  to  that,  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
are  just  the  sauciest  rag  to  fight  under  that  ever 
swung  on  a  battlefield;  and  I  don't  wonder  they 
like  that  flag." 

Any  old  soldier  on  our  side  of  the  lines  could 
say  amen  to  the  sentiment. — Rev.  Dr.  Trumbull, 
Army  Chaplain  (1898). 

The  Largest  Flag  Ever  Made. 

The  largest  flag  ever  put  together  in  the  United 
States,  was  made  by  Miss  Josephine  Mulford  of 
Madison,  New  Jersey.  She  was  moved  partly  by 
sentiment  and  partly  by  a  desire  to  pay  off  a 
mortgage  on  her  mother's  little  home  in  a  novel, 
yet  patriotic  way.  The  flag  is  100  by  65  feet; 
the  blue  field  is  40  by  35  feet;  each  star  measures 
two  feet  eight  inches  across;  the  stripes  are  five 
feet  wide ;  and  the  flag  contains  as  many  stitches 


134       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

as  there  were  soldiers  in  the  Spanish-American 
War— 325,000. 

Miss  Mulford  made  five  of  the  stars  in  the 
historic  places  of  the  States  they  represent.  The 
Pennsylvania  star  was  made  in  Philadelphia, 
partly  in  the  house  of  Betsy  Ross  in  the  very 
room  in  which,  it  is  claimed  by  some  writers,  the 
first  American  flag  was  made  in  1776 ;  partly  in 
Carpenter  Hall,  in  the  room  where  the  first  Con- 
tinental Congress  met,  and  partly  while  sitting 
in  Hancock's  chair  at  Independence  Hall,  which 
he  occupied  when  he  signed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  The  New  Jersey  star  was  made 
in  Washington's  headquarters  at  Morristown.  The 
Maryland  star  was  made  at  Fort  McHenry  in 
honor  of  Francis  Scott  Key's  flag — our  everlasting 
Star  Spangled  Banner.  The  Virginia  star  was 
made  in  the  Lafayette  room  at  Washington's  home, 
Mount  Vernon.  The  Xew  York  star  represents 
two  victories.  It  was  made  in  the  long  room  at 
Fraunce's  Tavern,  where  Washington  bade  fare- 
well to  his  officers  after  the  Revolution. 

Miss  Mulford  was  wonderfully  inspired  in 
carrying  to  completion  this  remarkable  under- 
taking. She  was  greatly  encouraged  by  President 
McKinley,  and  other  public  officials.  On  the 
halyard-canvas  she  embroidered  the  following 
beautiful  sentiment  for  our  victorious  army  and 
navy:  "While  making  this  flag  I  have  followed 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       135 

you  with  niy  thoughts  and  needle  all  through  this 
late  war,  and  taken  a  stitch  for  each  one  of  you. 
I  felt  confident  from  the  beginning  that  you  would 
overcome  all  difficulties,  and  return  as  you  have, 
still  under  the  glorious  Stars  and  Stripes,  for 
which  I  am  truly  grateful,  and  I  would  like  the 
people  of  our  country  to  present  this  flag  to  the 
Nation  which  you  have  so  nobly  preserved,  as  a 
thanksgiving  to  you  all." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  American  Flag  Associa- 
tion in  New  York  City,  June  fourteenth,  1901, 
Mrs.  Virginia  Chandler  Titcomb  of  Brooklyn, 
moved  that  the  Association  take  the  necessary 
steps  to  obtain  for  the  Hall  of  Fame  the  great  flag 
made  by  Miss  Mulford,  and  which  was  unfurled 
on  National  Flag  Day  at  the  Pan-American  Ex- 
position at  Buffalo.  President  Prince  of  the 
Association,  shocked  the  members  by  raising  a 
technical  point  against  Miss  Mulford's  flag.  He 
claimed  that  on  New  York  State  soil  the  flag  was 
a  violation  of  the  law,  because  the  names  of  the 
various  States  were  embroidered  in  the  stars, 
which,  he  said,  amounted  to  a  desecration  of  the 
Stars  and  Stripes;  therefore,  the  motion  of  Mrs. 
Titcomb  did  not  prevail. 

Miss  Mulford  died  in  the  summer  of  1900, 
her  death  undoubtedly  being  caused  by  the  great 
effort  she  put  forth  to  finish  the  flag  against  ap- 
proaching illness.  When  I  made  an  inquiry  of 


136        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

her  relatives  as  to  what  disposition  had  been  made 
of  the  wonderful  flag,  her  sister  requested  Mr. 
Edward  R.  Forman  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  to 
say  that  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion and  other  patriotic  societies  have  attempted 
to  take  the  matter  up  with  a  view  to  making  some 
patriotic  and  appropriate  use  of  the  flag,  but  so 
far  (March,  1903)  nothing  has  been  accomplished. 

Trying  to  Imitate  "Old  Glory.' 

State  flags  were  to  be  seen  in  the  Civil  War  on 
either  side,  but  "Old  Glory"  was  the  proud  ensign 
of  brotherhood  for  all  Union  soldiers — its  reg- 
imental folds,  as  the  fight  went  on,  inscribed  in 
historic  gilt  with  the  names  of  battles  or  crim- 
soned with  the  blood  of  the  valiant  who  bore  it. 
Nor  had  secession  the  ingenuity  to  design  a  substi- 
tute, wholly  different,  wholly  admirable,  or  wholly 
convenient  for  its  purpose.  Four  times  did  the 
Confederate  States  essay  a  flag  for  an  independent 
power  on  earth.  First  came  the  "Stars  and 
Bars,"  hoisted  over  the  capitol  at  Montgomery, 
Alabama,  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1861;  with  its 
seven  stars  and  three  stripes,  it  looked  amid  dust 
and  smoke  so  much  like  the  old  repudiated  colors, 
that  something  more  original  was  sought  for. 
Next,  Beauregard  designed  a  battle-flag  which  was 
borne  continually  after  the  first  Bull  Run  (July 
twenty-first,  1861),  under  public  sanction,  its  red 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       137 

field  crossed  by  two  blue  bars,  each  bearing  six 
gilt  stars  besides  a  large  one  in  the  centre.  In 
May,  1863,  the  Congress  at  Richmond  ordered  a 
new  flag,  which  used  the  Beauregard  emblem  as 
the  upper  inner  corner  or  union,  adding  a  plain 
white  fly;  but  this  so  resembled  on  its  staff  a  flag 
of  truce,  when  fallen  limp,  that  in  March,  1865, 
the  Confederate  Congress  gave  to  the  fly  a  broad 
red  edge ;  and  then  came  truce  in  earnest ! — 
Schouler's  History,  U.  S. 

The  Daughters  Raise  a  Flag. 

When  the  Twelfth  Continental  Congress  of 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  met  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  in  February,  1903,  an  in- 
spirited scene  was  witnessed  by  a  large  and  pa- 
triotic assemblage  at  which  were  representatives 
from  all  the  States  of  the  Union.  The  Daughters 
purposed  to  erect  a  Continental  Hall  at  the  corner 
of  Seventeenth  and  D  Streets,  Northwest,  and  a 
part  of  the  programme  on  the  twenty-third  day  of 
the  month  was  the  raising  of  a  flag  011  the  pro- 
posed site  of  their  Congress  Hall.  After  the 
regular  proceedings  of  the  day  were  concluded, 
Mrs.  Cornelia  Fairbanks,  President-General  of  the 
Congress,  wife  of  United  States  Senator  Fair- 
banks of  Indiana,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  General 
Warfield,  and  followed  by  the  National  Officers 
and  members  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolu- 


138        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

tion,  marched  to  the  site  of  the  new  building. 
This  spot  was  made  historic  in  1896  because 
thereon  was  created  the  flag-staff  used  at  the  in- 
auguration of  President  McKinley.  The  beau- 
tiful flag  was  attached  to  a  rope  in  the  hands  of 
Mrs.  Fairbanks,  and,  with  a  hip !  hip !  hurrah !  it 
was  hoisted  aloft  to  the  tune  of  "The  Star  Span- 
gled Banner,"  sung  from  the  hearts  and  by  the 
voices  of  a  great  audience. 

The  cheering  that  followed  was  simply  an  ex- 
pression of  a  sentiment  that  is  now  taking  hold 
of  the  people  in  all  parts  of  our  land — The  Flag 
of  our  Union  forever ! 

The  FlagSaveda  County  to  the  Union. 

The  death,  on  the  eleventh  of  March,  1903, 
of  Mrs.  Sarah  Landis  Maher  of  Wilmette,  Illinois, 
calls  to  mind  an  incident  of  peculiar  interest  asso- 
ciated with  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  The 
Chicago  Record-Herald  says  that  Mrs.  Maher  and 
her  husband  were  then  living  at  Mill  Creek,  Kan- 
awha  County,  which  is  now  a  part  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, where  Mr.  Maher  had  charge  of  coal  and 
oil  works.  The  sentiment  was  running  strongly 
to  the  side  of  division  of  the  Union,  when  Mrs. 
Maher  urged  that,  as  there  was  not  a  Union  flag 
in  the  district,  her  husband  ride  to  Charleston, 
ten  miles  away,  and  procure  silk  materials  so  that 
she  could  manufacture  one.  The  question  of  se- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        139 

cession  from  the  Union  or  from  the  eastern  part  of 
the  State  was  to  be  voted  on  two  days  after  Mrs. 
Maher  received  her  silk,  and  she  was  compelled  to 
work  all  day  Sunday  and  all  Sunday  night  to  get 
the  flag  finished  in  time.  The  next  morning, 
when  the  men  of  the  district  went  to  the  polling 
place,  they  found  floating  above  it  a  beautiful  ban- 
ner, Mr.  Maher  on  a  block  ready  to  address  them, 
and  his  wife  by  his  side  pointing  to  the  flag  as  its 
folds  flapped  from  the  staff.  Mr.  Maher  made  an 
impassioned  speech,  and  with  tears  streaming 
down  his  cheeks,  begged  his  neighbors  to  remain 
true  to  the  Union.  The  appeal  was  not  made  in 
vain,  as  a  large  majority  was  given  against  seces- 
sion. Mrs.  Maher  then  took  the  flag  and,  aided 
by  a  large  body  of  men,  planted  it  on  a  hill  over- 
looking the  whole  valley,  where  it  stayed  till  it 
fell  in  tatters. 

The  Greatness  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

At  a  dinner  at  the  Union  League,  Philadel- 
phia, in  April,  1899,  given  in  honor  of  Charles  E. 
Clark,  Commander  of  the  battleship  Oregon,  the 
Hon.  Hampton  L.  Carson  delivered  an  address 
on  "Our  Navy,"  from  which  the  following  salute 
to  the  flag  is  taken : 

On  the  very  day  when  the  British  were  driven 
out  of  Boston,  John  Paul  Jones,  with  that  historic 
rattle-snake  flag,  and  floating  above  it,  not  the  Stars 


140        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

and  Stripes,  but  the  stripes  of  the  Union  Jack, 
entered  the  waters  of  Great  Britain,  and  then  it 
was  seen  that  an  American  captain  with  an  Amer- 
ican ship  and  American  sailors  had  pluck  to  push 
out  into  foreign  seas,  and  beard  the  British  lion 
in  his  den.  I  know  of  no  more  thrilling  inci- 
dent in  Revolutionary  naval  annals  than  the  fight 
between  the  Serapis  and  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
when  Paul  Jones,  on  the  burning  deck  of  a  sinking 
ship,  lashed  his  yardarms  to  those  of  the  enemy 
and  fought  hand  to  hand,  man  to  man,  until  the 
British  colors  struck ;  and  then,  under  the  very 
cliffs  of  Old  England,  ran  up  for  the  first  time 
the  Stars  and  Stripes — with  a  field  of  blue  into 
which  the  skillful  fingers  of  Betsy  Ross  of 
Philadelphia  had  woven  inextinguishable  stars; 
the  red  stripes  typifying  the  glory,  the  valor,  and 
the  self-sacrifice  of  the  men  who  died  that  liberty 
might  live;  and  the  white  emblematic  of  purity, 
fitly  expressing  those  principles  to  preserve  which, 
these  men  had  sanctified  themselves  by  an  immor- 
tal self-dedication. 

The  Banner  as  a  Charm. 

It  is  an  old  story  how  men  have  loved  the 
standard  of  their  country,  how  they  have  longed 
for  the  sight  of  that  memorial  of  home  in  far-off 
lands,  and  have  grown  happier  when  the  sight  of 
it  was  vouchsafed  to  them.  A  fine  illustration  of 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       141 

this  thought  is  found  in  Mr.  Jacob  A.  Riis'  The 
Making  of  an  American,  He  describes  an  in- 
cident which  occurred  while  on  a  visit  to  the  land 
of  his  birth,  and  with  this  reference  to  the  flag, 
he  closes  his  delightful  volume: 

"Then  I  fell  ill  of  a  fever  and  lay  many  weeks 
in  the  house  of  a  friend  upon  the  shore  of  the  beau- 
tiful Oeresund.  One  day  when  the  fever  had  left 
me,  they  rolled  my  bed  into  a  room  overlooking 
the  sea.  The  sunlight  danced  upon  the  waves, 
and  the  distant  mountains  of  Sweden  were  blue 
against  the  horizon.  Ships  passed  under  full 
sail  up  and  down  the  great  waterway  of  the  Na- 
tions. But  the  sunshine  of  the  peaceful  day  bore 
no  message  for  me.  I  lay  moodily  picking  at  the 
coverlet,  sick  and  discouraged  and  sore — I  hardly 
knew  why  myself — until  all  at  once  there  sailed 
past,  close  ashore,  a  ship  flying  the  flag  of  freedom, 
blown  out  in  the  breeze  till  every  star  in  it  showed 
bright  and  clear.  That  moment  I  knew.  Gone 
were  illness,  discouragement,  and  gloom.  For- 
gotten weakness  and  suffering,  the  cautions  of  doc- 
tors and  nurses,  I  sat  up  in  bed  and  shouted, 
laughed  and  cried  by  turns,  waving  my  hand- 
kerchief to  the  flag.  They  thought  I  had  lost  my 
head ;  but  I  told  them  no,  thank  God !  I  had 
found  it,  my  heart  too,  at  last.  I  knew  then  that 
it  was  my  flag ;  that  my  children's  home  was  mine, 
indeed,  that  I  also  had  become  an  American  in 


142       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

truth.  And  thank  God,  and  like  unto  the  man 
sick  of  the  palsy,  I  arose  from  my  bed  and  went 
home,  healed !" 

'  The  Flag  of  Our  Country. 

A  banquet  was  given  to  Hear  Admiral  Win- 
field  Scott  Schley  at  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  in 
November,  1902.  One  of  the  toasts  of  the  occa- 
sion was  "The  Flag  of  Our  Country,"  to  which 
Hugh  Gordon  Miller  responded.  From  the  ad- 
dress are  these  two  forcible  paragraphs : 

I  may  be  permitted  to  remark  that  the  flag  is 
"up  there"  (referring  to  Porto  Eico  and  the  Phil- 
ippines), but  it  went  up  there  backed  by  a  united 
country  without  regard  to  section  or  to  party ;  and 
I  am  here  to  say  to  you  that  there  are  5,000,000 
young  Americans  in  this  country  who  are  pre- 
pared to  back  up  the  President  of  this  great  Re- 
public when  he  says  "the  flag  of  our  country  is  up 
there  to  stay  put."  For  after  all  has  been  said  and 
done,  and  not  only  the  smoke  of  battle  but  the 
smoke  of  partisan  turmoil  have  forever  rolled 
away,  and  we  look  over  the  recent  record  of  our 
country  and  our  flag,  is  there  one  of  us  who  does 
not  now  believe  that  when  on  that  holy  Sabbath 
morning,  four  years  ago,  the  guns  of  our  Asiatic 
squadron  under  the  command  of  the  immortal 
Dewey — fired  the  first  shot  at  Manila,  that  like 
the  shot  at  Lexington,  went  echoing  round  the 


Porto  Rico  Hag. 


Hawaiian 


When  Forio  l?ico  became  one  of  the  possession? 
of  ilic  United  Stales  it  hauled  down  tlie  Hag  of  Spain 
and  adopted  the  design  of  the  Cuban  flag,  with  the 
single  exception  that  the  colors  were  interchanged. 

It  is  said  that  the  British  Union  Jack  in  the  upper 
corner  of  the  Hawaiian  Hag  was  given  to  the  king  of 
the  islands  in  !"!>•'>.  by  (leorire  Vancouver,  the  noted 
Mnglish  explorer.  The  eiuht  stripes  in  the  Hag  rep- 
resent the  eight  islands  of  the  Hawaiian  territory. 

The  present  flag  of  Hawaii  has  the  red  crosses  of 
St.  (George  and  S|.  Andrew  bordered  with  white. 
This  has  formed  the  British  Union  Jack  since  1801. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        143 

world,  it  pealed,  forth  to  mankind  that  from  that 
time  on,  in  whatever  clime  or  region  of  the  earth 
the  old  Star  Spangled  Banner  might  be  unfurled, 
the  shackles  of  human  tyranny  and  oppression 
should  forever  fall  at  the  feet  of  Columbia,  and 
that  from  that  holy  Sabbath  morning  every  wind 
that  swept  through  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Cuba 
and  the  Philippine  Islands,  should  sing  the  same 
song  of  universal  freedom  and  of  the  glory  and  the 
greatness  of  a  people,  a  country,  and  a  flag,  for- 
ever consecrated  to  the  genius  of  universal  liberty  ? 
Since  that  first  great  naval  engagement  which 
occurred  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  and  off  the 
enemy's  shore,  the  first  naval  engagement  in  which 
our  flag  appeared — when,  after  the  flag-staff  was 
shot  away,  we  are  told  that  John  Paul  Jones  was 
asked  by  the  British  warship  if  he  had  struck  his 
colors,  he  replied  that  he  had  not  yet  begun  to 
fight — until  the  gallant  old  General  Wheeler  re- 
fused to  fall  back  with  the  banner  over  the  hills  at 
Santiago,  and  gallant  Admiral  Schley  stood  under 
the  same  banner,  exclaiming  in  language  that 
will  ring  down  the  ages  as  long  as  the  records  of 
civilized  man  shall  last,  "There  is  glory  enough 
for  us  all,"  the  story  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner 
has  always  and  everywhere  been  the  same. 


PROTECTING    THE    FLAG 
FROM    DESECRATION. 

THE  PATRIOTIC  WORK  ACCOMPLISHED 

BY   THE   DAUGHTERS    OF   THE 

AMERICAN  REVOLUTION, 

HE  first  appeal  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  for  protection  of  the 
American  flag  from  wilful  indignity 
and  malicious  insult,  was  made  at 
a  regular  meeting  of  the  Milwaukee  Chapter, 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  held  on 
the  fourth  of  December,  1896. 

At  that  event,  Mrs.  Walter  Kempster,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Chapter,  gave  an  account  of  numerous 
public  assaults  and  outrages  upon  the  National 
flag  which  had  occurred  within  the  preceding 
months,  and  then  offered  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted : 

''Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Milwau- 
kee Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  request  all  chapters  of  this  organiza- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       145 

tion  to  unite  with  them  in  a  petition  to  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  to  enact  a  law  provid- 
ing penalties  for  any  disrespect  shown  to  the  flag 
of  our  country,  and  making  it  a  misdemeanor  to 
place  upon  or  attach  to  the  flag  any  political  or 
other  device  of  any  kind." 

Mrs.  Kempster  was  appointed  a  committee  of 
one  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  resolution ; 
and  in  furtherance  of  this,  by  December  twelfth, 
1890,  she  had  sent  to  every  chapter  in  the  National 
Society  a  circular  asking  for  united  action  in  a 
petition  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  for 
a  law  to  prevent  desecration  of  the  flag.  The 
effect  of  the  circular  was,  for  the  first  time,  to 
bring  sharply  to  the  minds  of  thousands  of  women 
the  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  they,  as  well  as 
their  husbands,  sons,  and  brothers,  had  a  personal 
duty  to  the  flag  which  protected  them. 

On  February  the  twenty-second,  1897,  the  an- 
nual national  meeting  of  the  Continental  Congress 
of  the  National  Society,  Daughters  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  met  in  the  city  of  Washington, 
and  on  the  twenty-seventh  instant  the  represent- 
atives of  the  Milwaukee  Chapter  presented  in  its 
Chapter,  a  memorial  drawn  by  Mrs.  Kempster, 
endorsed  by  eighty-one  chapters;  also  a  draft  of 
a  bill  forbidding  all  forms  of  desecration  of  the 
flag,  and  an  appeal  to  the  Continental  Congress 
for  its  active  support  in  an  endeavor  to  secure  the 


146        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

enactment  of  an  effective  flag  law.  The  Conti- 
nental Congress,  then  representing  sixteen  thou- 
sand women,  endorsed  the  memorial  on  the  same 
day. 

On  the  ninth  of  July,  1897,  the  president- 
general  of  the  National  Society,  Mrs.  Adlai  E. 
Stevenson  of  Illinois,  appointed  a  flag  committee 
to  plan  and  conduct  the  work  suggested  in  the 
memorial,  which  consisted  of  Mrs.  Walter  Kemp- 
ster,  chairman,  Mrs.  James  G.  Jenkins,  Mrs. 
Henry  C.  Payne,  Mrs.  Julius  H.  Pratt,  of  Wis- 
consin; Mrs.  R.  Randolph  Powell,  Washington, 
D.  C. ;  and  Mrs.  John  Ritchie,  of  Maryland.  The 
bill  drawn  and  proposed  by  Mrs.  Kempster,  en- 
dorsed by  the  Milwaukee  Chapter  and  by  the  Na- 
tional Society  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  was  first  introduced  in  Congress,  De- 
cember eighteenth,  1897.  Since  that  time  the  bill 
has  been  continuously  in  the  hands  of  Congres- 
sional committees,  and  the  effort  to  arouse  public 
sentiment  to  demand  its  passage  has  been  actively 
prosecuted. 

At  the  National  Congress  of  the  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revolution,  held  in  Washington 
in  February,  1899,  Mrs.  Kempster  made  an  elo- 
quent personal  appeal  to  the  members  for  individ- 
ual, enthusiastic  work,  from  which  I  take  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs : 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        147 

"First,  let  me  say  for  all  the  workers  in  this 
effort  for  a  law  that  we  want  the  flag  used  as  freely 
as  possible.  We  want  it  upon  the  school  houses 
and  national  buildings.  We  want  the  flag  with  its 
symbolism  of  loyalty  and  fidelity — like  the  un- 
changing stars  in  the  sky ;  with  its  purity  of  devo- 
tion; with  all  it  typifies  of  agony  and  of  sublime 
self-sacrifice — held  free  and  pure  and  sacred  as  the 
cross.  It  has  been  contaminated  by  the  greed  of 
gain  until  it  has  been  dragged  down  to  the  vilest 
associations.  It  has  been  used  as  a  trade  mark 
of  party  patriotism. 

"We  reverence  the  heroism  of  our  patriots, 
but  do  we  protect  the  dearly  bought  benefits  ?  We 
shed  tears  of  sympathy  as  we  hear  of  the  deeds  of 
the  lion-hearted  of  our  land,  and  then — do  we  look 
on  serene  and  unmoved  at  the  daily  and  hourly 
mockery  and  degradation  of  the  emblem  of  all  the 
bloodshed  and  glory  of  our  national  history  ? 

"Long  years  ago  the  great  powers  of  the  earth 
found  it  necessary  to  protect  the  symbol  of  their 
sovereignty  from  the  vicious  and  lawless,  and  to 
secure  for  it  the  deference  due  to  a  representative 
of  the  Government.  Even  the  earliest  known 
enactments  of  the  very  early  times,  fifteen  cen- 
turies before  Christ,  3,400  years  ago,  the  laws  of 
Manu,  the  great  Hindu  lawgiver  (whose  institutes 
are  probably  the  fountain-head  of  modern  law), 
included  the  following:  "The  breaker  of  a  foot- 


148        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

bridge,  of  a  public  flag,  of  a  palisade,  and  of  idols 
made  of  clay  shall  repair  what  he  has  broken  and 
pay  a  mulct  of  500  panas.'  Thus,  thirty-four 
centuries  ago,  the  power  of  law  protected  life  and, 
with  the  same  sentence,  the  emblem  of  religion  and 
of  nationality. 

"At  the  present  time  there  are  few  great  na- 
tions but  have  laws  to  preserve  their  flag  from 
desecration,  and  all  consider  their  national  ensign 
sacred,  not  to  be  sullied  by  love  of  gain,  not  to  be 
at  the  mercy  of  the  reckless,  the  evil-minded,  nor 
the  anarchist.  The  first  effort  to  induce  the 
United  States  Government  to  protect  its  flag  seems 
to  have  been  made  in  1880,  when  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced in  Congress  for  that  purpose.  It  died  in 
the  committee-room,  and  ten  years  appear  to  have 
elapsed  before  the  introduction  of  the  next  flag 
bill  in  1890;  since  that  time  some  similar  bill 
has  been  before  Congress  almost  continually. 

"The  bill  to  save  the  flag  from  desecration  is 
not  without  companionship — many  other  patriotic 
societies — the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution, 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  the  Military 
Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  the  Society  of  Colonial 
Wars — doubtless  others — have  presented  bills  em- 
bodying the  hopes  and  wishes  of  many  thousands 
of  members  for  some  form  of  protection  for  our 
flag.  Petitions  containing  this  request  from  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  have  asked  for  such  a  law  dur- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        149 

ing  this  Fifty-fifth  Congress,  and  have  asked  in 
vain 

"The  great  patriotic  work  done  by  all  the 
Daughters  in  the  past  year  has  shown  how  deep 
and  wide  is  their  love  and  reverence  for  our  coun- 
try, how  national  and  all-embracing  is  their  con- 
ception of  our  duty  as  a  national  society.  The 
glory  and  beauty  of  our  organization  is  the  fact 
that  we  are  all  banded  together  as  sisters  of  one 
land.  There  is  no  J^orth,  no  South,  no  East,  no 
West.  We  have  not  even  the  slight  dividing  line 
of  State  societies  and  we  stand  together,  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  a  union  of  28,000  earnest  women, 
helping  to  uphold  the  great  principles  from  which 
our  forefathers  made  liberty  for  us. 

"In  your  several  States  are  many  thousands  of 
men  and  women  with  hearts  but  recently  stirred 
to  their  depth  by  love  of  the  flag,  ready  to  aid  us, 
if  you  will  ask  them.  Will  you  not  unite — 
America  knows  that  in  union  is  strength — and  by 
your  union  and  organization,  help  to  convince 
Congress  that  'the  people'  want  the  flag  protected 
from  desecration  ? 

"We  plead  with  you,  as  daughters  descended 
from  those  who  kept  all  sacred  things  pure  and 
holy,  who  suffered  and  endured  all  things,  to  give 
us  a  flag  and  a  country,  that  you  go  back  to  all 
parts  of  this  great  land  and  arouse  your  people 
in  each  corner  and  district  of  vour  State  with  such 


150        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

ardor  that  our  Representatives  in  Congress  cannot 
another  year  refuse  to  grant  our  prayer — that  the 
Government  itself  shall  respect  the  dignity  of  our 
flag,  shall  hold  aloof  its  ensign,  pure  and  unsul- 
lied, demanding  respect  and  honor  from  all  who 
are  sheltered  by  its  folds." 

The  part  which  the  Daughters  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution  have  taken  in  this  movement  dif- 
fers in  but  one  respect  from  that  of  the  many 
other  patriotic  societies  that  have  urged  so  stren- 
uously the  enactment  of  a  flag  law  by  the  Federal 
Government.  The  Daughters  began  their  effort 
by  asking  for  complete  protection  of  the  flag — 
meaning  thereby  to  forbid  its  use  for  advertise- 
ments, to  forbid  placing  upon  or  attaching  to  it, 
devices  or  inscriptions  and  to  punish  those  who 
maliciously  injure  or  destroy  it.  Wanton  and 
malignant  indignity  and  assault  upon  the  flag  they 
have  always  felt  to  be  an  unendurable  evil  and 
outrage,  not  to  be  permitted  by  any  government 
that  would  be  respected  at  home  or  abroad ;  but 
the  clause  forbidding  such  desecration  they  strug- 
gled for,  for  three  years  unsupported  by  any  other 
organization. 

The  efforts  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution 
to  secure  a  strict  law  against  all  forms  of  desecra- 
tion of  the  flag  brought  upon  them  much  crit- 
icism from  some  other  patriotic  associations,  but 
to  their  constant  appeal  "to  protect  the  flag  from 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       151 

street  brawls  and  riots,  from  use  as  a  party  sign- 
board and  trade-mark,  from  degradation  and 
mutilation  and  insult  at  the  hands  of  anarchists 
and  fomentors  of  sedition" — there  was  never  any 
reply.  But  finally,  when  under  the  influence  of 
public  opinion,  legislatures  of  the  different  States 
began  to  enact  laws  to  protect  the  emblem  of  the 
Nation  which  the  Nation  itself  neglected  to  do, 
then  the  awakened  heart  and  mind  of  the  people 
made  themselves  felt  in  the  laws  placed  upon  the 
statute  books  of  the  various  States.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  twenty-two  States  and  Territories  have 
enacted  laws  to  protect  the  flag  from  desecration, 
and  a  large  portion  of  this  number  embody  the 
three  provisions  of  the  bill  first  asked  for  by  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  so 
ardently  and  unfalteringly  urged  by  them.  And 
at  last,  in  the  winter  of  1900,  the  American  flag 
association  withdrew  the  opposition  which  some 
of  its  officers  had  hitherto  made  to  the  measure 
presented  by  the  National  Society  of  the  Daugh- 
ters, and  recommended  a  bill  substantially  the 
same  as  the  one  presented  by  them  in  1897,  and 
which  the  flag  association  now  urges  Congress  and 
State  legislatures  to  enact. 

In  the  widely  extended  effort  to  arouse  public 
opinion  regarding  the  disgraceful  misuse  of  our 
country's  flag,  all  patriotic  societies  have  done 
good  work,  and  all  have  a  share  in  the  honor  and 


152        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

credit  which  may  come  with  ultimate  success.  In 
the  general  growth  of  reverence  for  our  National 
colors  no  boundaries  or  limits  can  be  given  to 
the  influence  any  one  society  has  wielded;  but 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  must 
be  recognized  as  the  vanguard  of  patriotic  Amer- 
icans who  first  sought  to  protect  the  flag  from 
desecration,  and  to  their  unyielding  loyalty  to  the 
Stars  and  Stripes — sacred,  unpolluted,  and  unin- 
jured— must  be  given  the  credit  for  the  noble 
sentiment  which  led  to  the  enactment  of  so  many 
wholesome  State  flag-laws,  and  for  which  the 
united  patriotic  societies  appeal  to  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States. 


Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Rear  Admiral  Senior  in  Rank. 


Rear  Admiral  Second  in  Rank. 


Commodore's  Hroad  Pennant, 
Senior  in  Rank 


Commodore's  Broad  Pennant,  Second  in  Rani1 


GOOD  THINGS  SPOKEN  OF 
THE  FLAG 

INCLUDING    MANY    APOSTROPHES    TO 
THE  BANNER  OF  LIBERTY  BY  EMI- 
NENT ORATORS,  POETS  AND 
SOLDIERS. 

IVE  years  after  Francis  Scott  Key 
wrote  the  words  of  the  "Star  Span- 
gled Banner,"  Joseph  Rodman  Drake 
gave  the  world  the  popular  poem, 
'The  American  Flag."  This  was  in  1819,  one 
year  before  the  death  of  the  gifted  young  poet. 
The  Union  was  then  composed  of  twenty  States — 
Illinois  having  been  made  a  member  only  a  few 
months — and  Territories  were  earnestly  seeking 
admission.  The  Stars  in  the  union  of  the  flag 
were  thus  increasing,  and  "Old  Glory"  was  more 
than  ever  emblematic  of  progressive  American 
citizenship.  It  was  when  contemplating  the  grow- 
ing greatness  of  the  flag,  that  Drake  wrote  this 
noble  poem,  entitled  "The  American  Flag" : 


154       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

"When  Freedom,  from  her  mountain  height, 

Unfurled  her   standard  to  the  air, 
She  tore  the  azure  robe  of  night, 

And  set  the  stars  of  glory  there! 
She  mingled  with  its  gorgeous  dyes 
The  milky  baldric  of  the  skies, 
And   striped   its   pure   celestial   white 
With   streakings  of  the  morning  light; 
Then,  from  his  mansion  in  the  sun, 
She  called  her  eagle  bearer  down, 
And  gave  into  his  mighty  hand 
The  symbol  of  her  chosen  land! 

"Majestic  monarch  of  the  cloud! 

Who  rear'st  aloft  thy  regal  form, 
To  hear  the  tempest  trumpings   loud, 
And  see  the  lightning-lances  driven, 

When   stride   the   warriors   of   the   storm, 
And  rolls  the  thunder-drum  of  heaven! 
Child  of  the  sun !  to  thee  'tis  given 
To  guard  the  banner  of  the  free, 
To  hover  in  the  sulphur  smoke, 
To  ward  away  the  battle  stroke, 
And  bid  its  blendings  shine  afar, 
Like  rainbows  on  the  cloud  of  war, 

The  harbingers  of  victory. 

"Flag  of  the  brave!  thy  folds  shall  fly, 
The  sign  of  hope  and  triumph  high! 
When  speaks  the  signal  trumpet  tone 
And  the  long  line  comes  gleaming  on, 
(Ere  yet  the  life-blood  warm  and  wet 
Has  dimmed  the  glistening  bayonet) 
Each  soldier  eye  shall  brightly  turn 
To  where  thy  skyborn  glories  burn, 
And,  as  his  springing  steps  advance, 
Catch  war   and   vengeance  from  the  glance. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        155 

"And  when  the  cannon  mouthings  loud, 
Heave    in    wild    wreaths    the    battle    shroud, 
And  gory  sabres  rise  and  fall, 
Like  shoots  of  flame  on  midnight's  pall; 
There  shall  thy  meteor-glances  glow, 

And   cowering   foes   shall   shrink   beneath, 
Each  gallant  arm  that  strikes  below 

That  lovely  messenger  of  death. 

"Flag  of  the  seas!  on  ocean  wave 
Thy  stars  shall  glitter  o'er  the  brave; 
When  death,  careering  on  the  gale, 
Sweeps  darkly  round  the  bellied  sail, 
And  frighted  waves  rush  wildly  back 
Before  the  broadside's  reeling  rack, 
Each  dying  wanderer  of  the  sea 
Shall  look  at  once  to  heaven  and  thee, 
And  smile  to  see  thy  splendors  fly 
In  triumph  o'er  his  closing  eye. 

"Flag  of  the  free  heart's  hope  and  home, 

By  angel  hands  to  valor  given; 
Thy  stars  have  lit  the  welkin  dome 

And   all   thy   hues   were   born   in   heaven! 
Forever  float  that  standard  sheet! 
Where   breathes   the   foe   but   falls   before   us? 
With  freedom's  soil  beneath  our  feet, 
And  freedom's  banner  streaming  o'er  us?" 

The  last  four  lines  of  the  poem  were  written 
by  Drake's  friend  and  literary  partner,  Fitz- 
Greene  Halleck.  There  is  deep  pathos  in  the 
death  of  young  Drake.  The  span  of  his  life  was 
only  twenty-five  years.  At  Mrs.  Drake's  request, 
all  of  her  husband's  unpublished  poems  were  care- 
fully copied  by  Dr.  De  Kay,  an  intimate  friend 


156        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

of  the  family,  and  when  Drake  lay  on  his  death- 
bed, the  doctor  took  the  collection  to  him  and  said : 
"See,  Joe,  what  I  have  done."  But  the  dying 
poet  said:  "Burn  them,  they  are  valueless." 
Among  the  lot  was  "The  American  Flag,"  a  poem 
of  enduring  value. 

Duty  to  Our  Flag. 

When  the  Standard  of  the  Union  is  raised  and 
waves  over  my  head,  the  Standard  which  Wash- 
ington planted  on  the  ramparts  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, God  forbid  that  I  should  inquire  whom  the 
people  have  commissioned  to  unfurl  it  and  bear  it 
up.  I  can  only  ask  in  what  manner,  as  a  humble 
individual,  I  can  best  discharge  my  duties  in  de- 
fending it.  ... 

We  wish  that  the  last  object  on  the  sight  of 
him  who  leaves  his  native  shores,  and  the  first  to 
gladden  his  who  revisits  it,  may  be  something 
which  should  remind  him  of  the  liberty  and  the 
glory  of  his  country.  Let  the  flag  rise  till  it  meets 
the  sun  in  his  coming;  let  the  earlier  light  of  the 
morning  gild  it,  and  the  parting  day  linger  to 
play  on  its  summit. — Daniel  Webster. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Webster's  grand  apos- 
trophe to  the  flag,  which  forms  the  closing  sentence 
of  his  immortal  speech  in  reply  to  Hayne,  United 
States  Senate,  January  2(5,  1830: 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        157 

"Let  my  last  feeble,  lingering  glance  behold 
the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  republic,  now  known 
and  honored  throughout  the  earth,  its  arms  and 
trophies  streaming  in  their  original  luster;  not  a 
stripe  erased  or  polluted,  not  a  single  star  ob- 
scured— bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miserable 
interrogatory  as,  What  is  all  this  worth  ?  nor  these 
other  words  of  delusion  and  folly,  Liberty  first, 
and  union  afterwards ;  but  everywhere,  spread  all 
over  in  characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all 
its  ample  folds  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over 
the  land,  and  in  every  wind  under  the  whole  heav- 
ens, that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true 
American  heart — Liberty  and  Union,  now  and 
forever,  one  and  inseparable!" 

The  Flag  and  American  Citizenship. 

But,  sir,  so  long  as  that  flag  shall  bear  aloft 
its  glittering  stars — bearing  them  amid  the  din  of 
battle  and  waving  them  triumphantly  above  the 
storm  of  the  ocean — so  long,  I  trust,  shall  the 
rights  of  American  citizens  be  preserved,  safe 
and  unimpaired,  and  transmitted  as  a  sacred  le- 
gacy from  one  generation  to  another,  till  dis- 
cord shall  wreck  the  spheres,  the  grand  march  of 
time  shall  cease,  and  but  one  fragment  of  all  crea- 
tion be  left  to  chafe  on  the  bosom  of  eternity's 
waves. — Samuel  Houston,  Tex.  (Congress,  1832). 


158        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 
The    Old  Flag. 

The  flags  of  Nations  have  been  hallowed  by 
lofty  and  ennobling  associations ;  but  none  of  them 
by  higher  or  more  endearing  recollections  than  the 
flag  which  hangs  over  us  to-day — the  same  flag 
under  which  our  fathers  battled  for  freedom  and 
independence.  It  was  adopted  by  the  old  Con- 
gress while  the  new-born  Republic  was  struggling 
into  life.  In  the  hour  of  victory  we  have  given 
it  to  the  winds,  as  the  expression  of  our  thankful- 
ness and  joy.  In  the  days  of  our  calamity  we 
have  turned  to  it  for  support,  as  the  people  of  God 
turned  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  to  the  Pillar 
of  Fire,  which  was  conducting  them  through  the 
perils  of  the  wilderness. 

When  our  day  of  trial  shall  have  gone  by,  the 
old  flag  shall  float  again  unquestioned  in  the  land 
and  on  the  sea,  the  emblem  not  merely  of  the  past, 
but  of  the  latest  and  noblest  of  all  victories — the 
triumph  of  a  great  nation  over  the  elements  of 
weakness  and  danger  contained  within  itself. — 
General  John  A.  Dix  (New  England  Society,  New 
York,  1863). 

General  Grant  and  the  Flag. 

During  the  National  campaign  of  1868,  when 
General  Grant  was  first  nominated  for  the  presi- 
dency, he  observed  the  names  of  Grant  and  Col- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       159 

fax  attached  to  a  national  flag,  suspended  over  a 
business  street  in  Galena,  and  at  once  he  requested 
that  the  flag  be  taken  down  or  the  names  removed, 
saying :  "There  is  no  name  so  great  that  it  should 
be  placed  upon  the  flag  of  our  country." 

The  Glorious  Flag  at  Sumter. 

At  the  request  of  President  Lincoln,  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  delivered  the  oration  at  Fort  Sum- 
ter, on  the  rehoisting  of  the  flag  by  General  An- 
derson, April  fourteenth,  1865.  The  following 
beautiful  apostrophe  to  the  flag  is  taken  from  that 
oration : 

On  this  solemn  and  joyful  day  we  again  lift 
to  the  breeze  our  father's  flag,  now  again  the  ban- 
ner of  the  United  States,  with  the  fervent  prayers 
that  God  will  crown  it  with  favor,  protect  it  from 
treason,  and  send  it  down  to  our  children,  with  all 
the  blessings  of  civilization,  liberty,  and  religion. 
Happily,  no  bird  of  prey  has  been  inscribed  upon 
it.  The  stars  that  redeem  the  night  from  dark- 
ness, and  the  beams  of  red  light  that  beautify  the 
morning,  have  been  united  upon  its  folds.  As 
long  as  the  sun  endures,  or  the  stars,  may  it  wave 
over  a  Nation  neither  enslaved  nor  enslaving ! 
Once,  and  but  once,  has  treason  dishonored  it.  In 
that  insane  hour  when  the  guiltiest  and  bloodiest 
rebellion  of  all  time  hurled  their  fires  upon  this 
fort,  you,  sir  (turning  to  General  Anderson),  and 


160        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

a  small  heroic  band,  stood  within  these  now  crum- 
bling walls,  and  did  gallant  and  just  battle  for 
the  honor  and  defense  of  the  Nation's  banner.  In 
that  cope  of  fire,  that  glorious  flag  still  peacefully 
waved  to  the  breeze  above  your  head,  unconscious 
of  the  harm  as  the  stars  and  skies  above  it.  After 
a  vain  resistance,  with  trembling  hand  and  sad 
heart,  you  withdrew  it  from  its  height,  closed  its 
wings,  and  bore  it  away,  sternly  to  sleep  amid 
the  tumults  of  rebellion,  and  the  thunder  of  battle. 

You  that  then,  for  the  day,  were  hum- 
bled, are  here  again,  to  triumph  once  and  forever. 
In  the  storm  of  that  assault  this  glorious  ensign 
was  often  struck,  but,  memorable  fact,  not  one  of 
its  stars  was  torn  out  by  shot  or  shell !  Lifted  to 
the  air  to-day,  it  proclaims  that  after  four  years 
of  war,  not  a  State  is  blotted  out. 

Hail  to  the  flag  of  our  fathers,  and  our  flagl 
Glory  to  the  banner  that  has  gone  through  four 
years  black  with  the  tempests  of  war,  to  pilot  the 
Nation  back  to  peace  without  dismemberment ! 

When  our  flag  came  down,  four  years 
ago,  it  lay  brooding  in  darkness.  When  it  went 
down  four  million  people  had  no  flag.  And  to-day 
it  rises,  and  four  million  people  cry  out,  "Behold 
our  flag!"  It  is  the  gospel  that  they  recite  in 
sacred  words:  "It  is  the  gospel  of  the  poor,  it 
heals  our  broken  hearts,  it  preaches  deliverance 
to  the  captives,  it  gives  sight  to  the  blind,  it  sets 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       161 

at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised."  Rise  up,  then, 
glorious  gospel  banner,  and  roll  out  these  messages 
of  God.  Tell  the  air  that  not  a  spot  now  sullies 
thy  whiteness.  Thy  red  is  not  the  blush  of  shame, 
but  the  flush  of  joy.  Tell  the  dews  that  wash  thee 
that  thou  art  as  pure  as  they.  Say  to  the  night 
that  thy  stars  lead  towards  the  morning;  and  to 
the  morning,  that  a  brighter  day  arises  with  heal- 
ing in  its  wing.  And  then,  O  glorious  flag,  bid 
the  sun  pour  light  on  all  thy  folds  with  double 
brightness  while  thou  art  bearing  round  and  round 
the  world  the  solemn  joy — a  race  set  free,  a  Nation 
redeemed ! 

Beautiful  Symbolixation  of  the  Flag. 

There  is  the  National  flag.  He  must  be  cold, 
indeed,  who  can  look  upon  its  folds  rippling  in 
the  breeze  Avithout  pride  of  country.  If  in  a 
foreign  land  the  flag  is  companionship,  and  coun- 
try itself,  with  all  its  endearments,  who,  as  he  sees 
it,  can  think  of  a  State  merely,  whose  eyes,  once 
fastened  upon  its  radiant  trophies,  can  fail  to 
recognize  the  image  of  the  whole  Nation  ?  It  has 
been  called  "a  floating  piece  of  poetry" ;  and  yet 
I  know  not  if  it  have  an  intrinsic  beauty  beyond 
other  ensigns.  Its  highest  beauty  is  what  it  sym- 
bolizes. It  is  because  it  represents  all,  that  all 
gaze  at  it  with  delight  and  reverence.  It  is  a 
piece  of  bunting  lifted  in  the  air;  but  it  speaks 


162        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

sublimity,  and  every  part  has  a  voice.  Its  stripes 
of  alternate  red  and  white,  proclaim  the  original 
Union  of  thirteen  States  to  maintain  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  Its  stars  of  white  on  a 
field  of  blue  proclaim  Union  of  States  constitut- 
ing our  National  constellation,  which  receives  a 
new  star  with  every  new  State.  The  two  together 
signify  Union,  past,  present.  The  very  colors 
have  a  language,  officially  recognized  by  our 
fathers.  White  is  purity ;  red,  for  valor ;  blue  for 
justice.  And  altogether,  bunting,  stripes,  stars, 
and  colors,  blazing  in  the  sky,  make  the  flag  of 
our  country,  to  be  cherished  by  all  hearts,  to  be 
upheld  by  all  our  hands. — CharlesSumner(1873). 

The  Old  Flag. 

Everywhere  the  dominion  and  the  power  be- 
long to  that  same  old  flag  under  which  our  fathers 
conquered  and  under  which  we,  thank  God  and  the 
brave  men  who  led  us,  have  succeeded.  What 
does  this  flag  mean  ?  What  is  that  trumpery,  that 
piece  of  bunting  you  can  buy  for  six  shillings  a 
yard  ?  What  does  it  amount  to  ?  Who  would 
live  for  it,  or  die  for  it?  It  is  only  so  much  a 
yard,  that  is  all — a  poor  piece  of  bunting.  But 
around  it,  and  in  it,  and  for  it,  the  life,  and  hopes, 
and  growth,  and  majesty  of  this  whole  people 
stand  to-day.  Can  you  value  it  by  the  yard  ? 
The  value  of  a  thing  depends  on  what  you  give 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       163 

for  it,  and  what  more  can  a  man  give  than  his 
life  ?  How  many  of  us  here  offered  that  thing  ? 
Don't  I  see  the  countenance  of  one  man  before 
us  (pointing  to  the  portrait  of  General  McPher- 
son),  who  is  to  us  the  emblem  of  the  million  dead 
whose  bones  sanctify  every  foot  of  that  ground  we 
conquered  ?  Some  died  and  some  of  us  had  the 
good  fortune  to  survive.  Don't  you  know,  how- 
ever highly  you  value  your  personal  life,  that  far 
beyond  and  above  that  is  the  life  of  the  Nation, 
and  this  life  is  symbolized  by  the  old  flag. 

This  is  the  flag,  inviolate  and  unstained,  as  we 
receive  it  from  our  ancestors,  and  we  stand  ready 
to  deliver  it  to  those  who  come  after  us,  and  we 
have  the  assurance  that  this  Government,  which 
was  saved  by  the  men  of  this  day,  has  been  planted 
upon  a  basis  that  nothing  that  human  foresight 
can  avert,  can  overthrow.  God  led  the  flag  and 
the  army  that  sustained  it. — Major-Oeneral 
Stephen  A.  Hulburt,  Illinois  (Toledo,  1873). 

Great  Objects  Symbolized  by   Our 
Flag. 

Great  objects  are  symbolized  by  our  flag,  and 
herein  as  a  Nation  we  have  just  reason  to  be 
proud.  We  are  greatly  favored  in  extent  of  ter- 
ritory, in  variety  of  productions,  in  everything 
that  enables  a  people  to  be  just  and  great,  and  on 
us  and  our  children  rests  the  mighty  responsibil- 


164       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

ity  of  continuing  our  history,  so  that  our  flag  shall 
continue  to  be  emblem  of  all  the  virtues  that  con- 
stitute national  greatness,  quite  as  much  as  num- 
bers and  wealth.  We  in  our  day  fought  a  great 
battle  that  unity  should  be  maintained,  that  lib- 
erty should  be  universal,  and  that  justice  should 
not  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  disaffected.  Now  our 
flag  is  universally  respected  because  it  is  the  true 
emblem  of  the  power  of  a  united  people,  and  be- 
cause it  respects  principles  which  are  dear  to  all 
mankind. 

Let  us  cherish  the  memories  of  the  past,  and 
resolve,  each  in  his  own  sphere,  to  uphold  the  right 
as  we  see  it ;  and  the  blue  of  our  flag,  studded  with 
stars,  will  be  as  the  firmament  of  heaven,  and 
the  stripes  symbolic  of  the  sun's  glory,  as  he  sets 
in  the  summer's  horizon  of  the  west. — General 
William  T.  Sherman  (Springfield,  111.,  1874). 

Our  Old  Flag. 

For  nearly  one  hundred  years  the  old  flag  has 
waved  over  a  united  and  prosperous  people.  Its 
insults  have  always  been  avenged,  and  to-day  it  is 
respected  by  all  nations  and  people,  and  every- 
where is  sure  protection  to  every  American  who 
stands  under  its  broad  folds. 

In  our  own  land  we  see  the  old  flag  every- 
where— on  our  shipping  and  public  buildings,  on 
our  streets  and  in  our  homes,  and  the  sight  of  it 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       165 

inspires,  naturally  enough,  no  unusual  emotions. 
Were  we  to  see  it  in  some  far-off  land,  it  would 
be  different. 

Some  years  ago  in  my  wanderings,  I  found 
myself  on  a  steamer  anchored  in  the  Bay  of 
Naples,  the  dense  fog  preventing  our  entrance  into 
port.  Standing  on  the  deck  and  peering  through 
the  mist  to  get,  if  possible,  a  sight  of  Naples  and 
its  beautiful  surroundings,  a  rift  in  the  fog  dis- 
closed the  old  flag  borne  by  a  man-of-war.  Ex- 
citedly I  turned  to  my  traveling  companion,  the 
tears  starting  to  my  eyes,  and  pointing  to  it  said : 
"See  our  flag !"  I  shall  never  forget  the  emotions 
I  then  experienced.  I  felt  in  my  heart  that  though 
a  wanderer  far  from  country,  home,  and  friends, 
I  had  in  the  old  flag  a  protector.  Then,  dear  old 
flag,  long  may  you  wave — not  as  in  years  gone  by, 
over  a  Nation  part  free  and  part  slave,  but  over  a 
land  wholly  and  gloriously  free. — General  A.  L. 
Chetlain,  Illinois  (St.  Paul,  1877). 

The  True  Banner  of  Liberty. 

Our  old  banner  is  the  only  true  banner  of 
liberty.  It  has  gathered  its  millions  from  lands 
of  tyranny  and  gladdened  their  hearts  with  free- 
dom. It  rejoices  the  eye  and  heart  of  every  lib- 
erty-loving man  wherever  seen  around  the  globe. 
It  is  the  banner  of  freedom  to-day,  it  was  yester- 
day, and  a  century  ago.  It  is  the  same  that  waved 


166        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

over  and  inspired  the  noble  land  of  unshod  patri- 
ots that  gained  the  independence  of  this  people. 
On  more  than  a  hundred  hardly  contested  fields 
for  the  Union  as  borne  aloft  it  gladdened  the 
weary,  the  wounded,  and  the  dying.  It  took  the 
manacles  from  the  limbs  of  men  chained  in  the 
deep  gulf  of  despair,  and  stood  them  erect  in  the 
glorious  sunlight  of  freedom. 

All  hail !  proud  old  flag ;  no  ruthless  hand  shall 
despoil  thee.  As  the  stars  that  deck  the  plains  of 
heaven  and  the  glory  of  the  night,  and  light  up  the 
foot-path  of  man,  so  shall  these  stars  be  the  glory 
of  this  Nation,  shedding  their  light  along  the 
pathway  of  liberty. — General  John  A.  Logan 
(Chicago,  1879). 

GarfielcTs  Trust. 

I  trust  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when,  under 
the  crossed  swords  and  the  locked  shields  of  Amer- 
icans, North  and  South,  our  people  shall  sleep  in 
peace,  and  rise  in  liberty,  love,  and  harmony, 
under  the  Union  of  our  flag — the  Stars  and 
Stripes. — James  A.  Garfteld  (1879). 

IngersolFs   Apostrophe  to  the  Flag. 

The  flag  for  which  the  heroes  fought,  for  which 
they  died,  is  the  symbol  of  all  we  are,  of  all  we 
hope  to  be. 

It  is  the  emblem  of  equal  rights. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       167 

It  means  free  hands,  free  lips,  self-govern- 
ment, and  the  sovereignty  of  the  individual. 

It  means  that  this  continent  has  been  dedicated 
to  freedom. 

It  means  universal  education — light  for  every 
mind,  knowledge  for  every  child. 

It  means  that  the  school  house  is  the  fortress 
of  Liberty. 

It  means  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen 
to  bear  his  share  of  the  public  burden — to  take 
part  in  the  affairs  of  his  town,  his  county,  his 
State,  and  his  country. 

It  means  that  the  ballot  box  is  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant;  that  the  source  of  authority  must  not 
be  poisoned. 

It  means  the  perpetual  right  of  peaceful  revo- 
lution. It  means  that  every  citizen  of  the  Re- 
public— native  or  naturalized — must  be  protected ; 
at  home,  in  every  State — abroad,  in  every  land, 
on  every  sea. 

It  means  that  all  distinctions  based  on  birth  or 
blood  have  perished  from  our  laws ;  that  our  gov- 
ernment shall  stand  between  labor  and  capital,  be- 
tween the  weak  and  the  strong,  between  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  corporation,  between  want  and 
wealth,  and  give  the  guarantee  of  simple  justice 
to  each  and  all. 

It  means  that  there  shall  be  a  legal  remedy 
for  every  wrong. 


168        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

It  means  national  hospitality — that  we  must 
welcome  to  our  shores  the  exiles  of  the  world,  and 
that  we  may  not  drive  them  back.  Some  may  be 
deformed  by  labor,  dwarfed  by  hunger,  broken  in 
spirit,  victims  of  tyranny  and  caste — in  whose  sad 
faces  may  be  read  the  touching  record  of  a  weary 
life;  and  yet  their  children,  born  of  liberty  and 
love,  will  be  symmetrical  and  fair,  intelligent  and 
free. 

That  flag  is  the  emblem  of  a  supreme  will  of  a 
Nation's  power.  Beneath  its  folds  the  weakest 
must  be  protected  and  the  strongest  must  obey. 
It  shields  and  canopies  alike  the  loftiest  mansion 
and  the  rudest  hut. 

That  flag  was  given  to  the  air  in  the  Revolu- 
tion's darkest  days.  It  represents  the  sufferings 
of  the  past,  the  glories  yet  to  be ;  and  like  the  bow 
of  heaven  it  is  the  child  of  storm  and  sun. — 
Robert  G.  Ingersoll  (Memorial  Day,  New  York, 
1882). 

The  Voice  of  Our  Flag. 

The  National  ensign,  pure  and  simple,  dearer 
to  our  hearts  at  this  moment,  as  we  lift  it  to  the 
gale  and  see  no  other  sign  of  hope  upon  the  storm- 
cloud  which  rolls  and  settles  above  it,  save  that 
which  is  reflected  from  its  own  radiant  hues.  It 
speaks  for  itself  far  more  eloquently  than  I  can 
speak  for  it.  Every  star  has  a  tongue.  Every 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        169 

stripe  is  articulate.  There  is  no  language  or 
speech  where  their  voices  are  not  heard.  It  has 
an  answer  for  every  question.  It  has  a  solution 
for  every  doubt  and  every  perplexity.  It  has  a 
word  of  good  cheer  for  every  hour  of  gloom,  or 
despondency.  It  speaks  of  earlier  and  later 
struggle.  It  speaks  of  heroes  and  patriots  among 
the  living  and  among  the  dead.  But  before  all 
and  above  all  other  associations  and  memories, 
whether  of  glorious  men  or  of  glorious  deeds,  or 
glorious  plans,  its  voice  is  ever  of  union  and  lib- 
erty, of  the  Constitution  and  laws.  Let  it  tell  the 
story  of  its  birth  to  these  gallant  volunteers  as  they 
march  beneath  its  folds  by  day,  or  repose  beneath 
its  sentinel  stars  by  night.  Let  it  recall  to  them 
the  strange,  eventful  history  of  its  rise  and  pro- 
gress. Let  it  rehearse  to  them  the  wondrous  tale 
of  its  trials  and  its  triumphs  in  peace  as  well  as  in 
war. — Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Massachusetts. 

The  Flag  and  the  Nation. 

Known  as  a  Nation  by  the  men  who  made  it 
so,  its  flag  was  unfurled  in  1777.  The  thirteen 
States  placed  there  the  thirteen  stripes  in  the  body 
of  the  flag.  These  stripes  fastened  together  be- 
came the  sign  and  emblem  of  a  union  of  these 
States  which  no  blow  can  break.  In  a  blue  field 
the  stars  were  set — each  the  sign  of  a  State — and 
in  this  field,  as  new  States  came,  new  stars  were 


170        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

there  to  mark  the  bond  that  bound  them  to  the 
flag.  Should  trouble  and  disaster  come,  and 
should  one  star  be  eclipsed  by  the  unreasoning  ac- 
tion of  those  who  placed  it  there;  should  it  even 
drop  from  the  galaxy  of  stars  that  adorned  the 
shield,  and  should  other  stars  fall  with  it  from 
that  firmament  of  freedom,  still  the  flag  would  be 
there;  these  stripes — red,  emblematic  of  war,  and 
white,  of  peace,  would  be  there.  They  were  there 
to  cheer  the  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  fight,  and 
there  to  soothe  his  lingering  hours  in  hospitals, 
where  there  was  no  fair  hand  to  smooth  the  sol- 
dier's pillow.  In  the  midst  of  action  that  same 
flag,  with  some  of  its  stars,  perhaps  obscured,  but 
with  these  same  old  stripes,  waving  in  their  first 
beauty,  was  there  to  cheer  the  wavering,  to  rally 
the  faltering,  and  to  save  the  day. 

And  this  flag,  beautiful  in  the  breeze,  as  it  un- 
folds from  its  staff,  dear  to  every  man  who  loves 
his  country,  whether  it  hangs  listlessly  in  quiet,  or 
snaps  its  ends  in  defiance,  blown  in  full  display  by 
the  winds  of  heaven ;  this  flag  with  its  first  stripes 
is  the  best  emblem  of  a  Nation  which  could  not  be 
broken — a  Nation  which  no  assault  can  harm  and 
no  attack  dismay — a  Nation  for  which  we  fought 
and  won,  my  comrades — a  Nation  with  a  cap- 
ital N. — Major-General  W.  W.  Belknap,  Iowa 
(Toledo,  1888). 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       171 
The  Beauty  of  the  Flag. 

I  have  seen  the  glories  of  art  and  architecture, 
and  of  mountain  and  river.  I  have  seen  the  sun 
set  011  Jungfrau,  and  the  full  moon  rise  over 
Mount  Blanc,  but  the  fairest  vision  on  which 
these  eyes  ever  looked  was  the  flag  of  my  own 
country  in  a  foreign  land.  Beautiful  as  a  flower 
to  those  who  love  it,  terrible  as  a  meteor  to  those 
who  hate  it,  it  is  the  symbol  of  the  power  and  the 
glory  and  the  honor  of  seventy  millions  of  Amer- 
icans.— George  F.  Hoar,  U.  8.  Senator,  Massachu- 
setts (1888). 

American  Flags  Not  Captured. 

I  looked  over  the  capitals  of  Europe  and  saw 
the  captured  flags  of  their  Nations,  but  I  looked 
in  vain  to  see  the  Stars  and  Stripes  of  America 
among  the  trophies.  I  then  said  to  myself,  "God 
be  praised  for  the  thrilling  order  which  the  grand 
old  hero,  General  Dix,  gave  when  he  said,  'Any 
man  who  hauls  down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him 
on  the  spot !'  " 

Those  who  have  not  seen  our  flag  in  the  shock 
and  smoke  of  battle ;  who  have  not  seen  it  planted 
on  the  ramparts  of  the  enemy;  who  have  not  felt 
the  joy  when  borne  to  victory;  who  have  not  suf- 
fered the  grief  when  borne  back  or  lost  in  defeat ; 
who  have  not  seen  it  riddled  with  bullets;  who 


172       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

have  not  used  it  as  a  shroud  for  a  valiant  brother; 
who  have  not  seen  the  begrimed  veterans  hug  and 
caress  it,  can  never  know  how  dearly  the  soldiers 
love  the  flag. 

Comrades,  our  days  are  well-nigh  numbered, 
but,  thank  God,  the  old  flag  will  continue  to  float 
after  we  are  gone,  and  as  generations  succeed  each 
other.  No;  not  abroad  as  captured  trophies,  but 
here  in  the  capital  of  America,  and  in  the  State 
capitals,  are  the  flags  our  soldiers  carried.  Glori- 
ous ensign  of  liberty,  noble  incentives  to  patriot- 
ism, silent  monitors  of  duty! — Colonel  Wheeler 
G.  Veasey  (Scranton,  Pa.,  1892). 

Flag  of  a  Continental  Union. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  June,  1894,  General 
Stewart  L.  Woodford  delivered  an  address  at 
Dobbs  Ferry,  New  York,  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  the  monument  to  commemorate 
the  planning  there  by  Washington  and  Count  Jean 
Baptiste  Rochambeau,  of  the  Yorktown  campaign, 
August  fourteenth,  1781.  Of  the  flag  Mr.  Wood- 
ford  said : 

This  is  the  birthday  of  our  flag — a  flag  that 
repeats  the  story  of  the  original  thirteen  colonies 
in  its  thirteen  blended  stripes,  and  that  keeps  the 
record  of  our  increasing  states  in  the  numbers  of 
its  increasing  stars — a  star  for  every  State  upon 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       173 

its  field  of  blue.  May  these  stars  multiply  until 
they  shall  represent  the  willing  union  under  equal 
laws  of  all  the  peoples  of  this  continent  from  the 
pole  to  the  isthmus.  On  this  flag-day  I  greet  in 
prophetic  vision  and  with  patriotic  hope  the  flag  of 
the  Union  of  the  future — a  Union  that  shall  be 
continental  in  its  extent,  a  flag  whose  stars  shall 
be  as  the  milky  way. 

Do  you  think  me  dreamy  or  visionary  ?  It 
was  the  dream  that  was  before  Jefferson  when  he 
penned  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  1776 ; 
that  kindled  in  the  calm  greatness  of  Washington's 
soul  when  he  took  command  beneath  the  elm  at 
Cambridge.  Else  why  did  our  fathers  call  the 
first  Congress  the  Continental  Congress,  and  why 
were  those  lives  the  farmer  boys  ennobled  forever 
as  the  Continental  army?  To  the  realness  of 
which  they  dreamed  and  of  which  in  their  weak- 
ness they  were  not  ashamed,  let  us  in  our  young 
manhood  and  increasing  strength  resolutely  and 
hopefully  aspire.  Let  us  not  take  it  by  strong 
hand  force;  let  us  deserve  it,  and  compel  it  by 
justice,  by  wisdom,  by  demonstration  of  its  advan- 
tage and  necessity.  And  so  again,  in  memory  of 
our  fathers,  and  with  comprehension  of  our 
growth  and  needs,  on  this  birthday  of  our  flag,  I 
hail  the  flag  of  the  surely  coming  Continental 
Union. 


174       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 
Soldiers^  Love  of  the  Flag. 

At  the  dedication  of  the  Cuyahoga  County  sol- 
diers' and  sailors'  monument  at  Cleveland,  July 
fourth,  1894,  William  McKinley,  then  governor 
of  Ohio,  thus  spoke  of  the  flag : 

Nothing  has  so  impressed  me  in  the  pro- 
gramme of  to-day,  as  the  organization  of  the  old 
soldiers,  carrying  with  them  their  tattered  flag, 
which  they  bore  a  third  of  a  century  ago  upon  the 
field  of  war.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  these  old  sol- 
diers love  to  carry  the  flag  under  which  they 
fought  and  for  which  their  brave  comrades  gave 
their  lives  ? 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  old  soldier  loves  the 
flag  under  whose  folds  his  comrades  shed  so  much 
blood  ?  He  loves  it  for  what  it  is  and  for  what  it 
represents.  It  embodies  the  purposes  and  history 
of  the  government  itself.  It  records  the  achieve- 
ments of  its  defenders  upon  land  and  sea.  It 
heralds  the  heroism  and  sacrifices  of  our  Revolu- 
tionary fathers  who  planted  free  government  on 
this  continent,  and  dedicated  it  to  liberty  forever. 
It  attests  the  struggles  of  our  army  and  the  valor 
of  our  citizens  in  all  the  wars  of  the  Republic. 
It  has  been  sanctified  by  the  blood  of  our  best 
and  our  bravest.  It  records  the  achievements  of 
Washington  and  the  martyrdom  of  Lincoln.  It 
has  been  bathed  in  the  tears  of  a  sorrowing  people. 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       175 

It  has  been  glorified  in  the  hearts  of  a  freedom- 
loving  people,  not  only  at  home  but  in  every  part 
of  the  world.  Our  flag  expresses  more  than  any 
other  flag ;  it  means  more  than  any  other  emblem. 
It  expresses  the  will  of  a  free  people,  and  pro- 
claims that  they  are  supreme  and  that  they  ac- 
knowledge no  earthly  sovereign  other  than  them- 
selves. It  was  never  assaulted  that  thousands  did 
not  rise  up  to  smite  the  assailant.  Glorious  old 
banner ! 

An  Emblem  of  Unity  and  Power. 

Our  flag  which  floats  over  us  to-day,  with  no 
star  lost  or  dimmed,  is  emblematical  of  assured 
unity  of  power.  As  we  gather  under  its  protect- 
ing folds,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  heart-beat  to  heart- 
beat, in  the  full  blaze  of  the  risen  sun  of  liberty, 
which  gilds  the  glories  of  the  past  and  clearly 
reveals  the  duties  of  the  future,  with  one  voice  let 
us  respect  the  deathless  words  of  our  martyr  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  that  "this  Nation  shall,  under  God, 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom ;  and  that  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." — Cliaun- 
cey  M.  Depew,  U.  8.  Senator,  New  York  (1895). 

A  Flag  with  a  Great  History. 

The  history  of  our  flag  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  chapters  in  American  annals.  Our 


176        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

fore-fathers,  in  their  wisdom,  did  not  create  their 
country  first,  and  then  fashion  a  banner  to  repre- 
sent it;  but  in  the  early  years  of  that  struggle 
they  adopted  a  definite  flag,  and  under  its  folds 
they  went  forth  to  conquer  the  right  to  call  them- 
selves a  free  and  independent  people.  But  a  year 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  1777, 
Congress  adopted  a  measure  which  prescribed  that 
the  flag  should  consist  of  thirteen  stripes  and  stars 
to  represent  the  original  colonies.  In  1795  Con- 
gress changed  the  flag  to  fifteen  stripes  and  stars, 
and  it  was  the  intention  to  add  a  stripe  and  a  star 
for  every  new  State.  After  more  States  had  been 
added  they  were  about  to  change  the  flag  to  cor- 
respond, when  Mr.  Wendover,  a  member  of  Con- 
gress from  New  York,  rose  in  his  place  and  said : 
"If  the  Union  keeps  on  increasing  at  its  present 
rate,  you  will  soon  find  that  the  tallest  pine  in  the 
forests  of  Maine  will  not  be  high  enough  to  serve 
as  a  flag-staff."  And  it  was  then  decided  that  the 
permanent  form  of  the  flag  should  be  its  present 
one,  thirteen  stripes  and  a  star  for  each  State. 

I  like  the  term  "ensign" — Insigno — the  sign 
of.  It  means  it  has  a  peculiar  significance.  And 
so  that  the  flag,  in  its  present  form,  was  the  flag 
born  of  the  first  war  for  freedom.  It  was  baptized 
in  blood,  consecrated  in  tears,  hallowed  in  pray- 
ers. It  has  not  been  the  flag  of  aggression,  but  of 
progression,  not  the  flag  of  destruction,  but  of  con- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        177 

struction,  never  a  flag  of  oppression,  always  a  flag 
of  liberty.  .  .  .  The  flag  never  has  and  never 
shall  be  once  dethroned  from  its  proud  supremacy. 

The  blending  of  its  colors  forms  a  banner  of 
transcendant  beauty.  The  red,  typical  of  the 
blood  which  was  shed  in  the  war  for  freedom; 
the  white,  emblematic  of  the  purity  of  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  government  was  organized ; 
the  blue,  the  azure  snatched  from  heaven  to  repre- 
sent the  devotion  and  loyalty  of  the  founders 
of  the  Republic. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  there  was 
a  rallying  cry  which  rang  throughout  the  country, 
which  warmed  the  hearts  of  every  patriotic  per- 
son, which  made  the  blood  tingle  in  the  hearts  of 
every  loyal  citizen.  It  was  a  cry  that  can  never 
be  repeated  too  often  in  this  land — "If  any  man 
hauls  down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the 
spot." — General  Horace  Porter,  U.  8.  Ambassador 
to  France  (1895). 

The  Young  Should  Love  the  Flag. 

Teach  the  young  among  you  to  look  with  eyes 
of  love  and  pride  upon  the  flag,  wherever  they  see 
it  floating — to  remember  always  that 

"For  every  star  in  its  field  of  blue, 
For   every  stripe   of   stainless   hue, 
Ten  thousand  of  the  tried  and  true 
Have  lain  them  down  and  died." 


178        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

There  is  music  in  its  rustling,  there  is  magic 
in  its  web.  "Every  star  is  a  league ;  every  stripe 
is  articulate."  It  is  an  inspiration  to  those  who 
love  it.  It  is  a  sunburst  to  those  who  are  proud 
of  it.  Heaven  has  blessed  it,  and  the  sacrifice  of 
man  has  sanctified  it.  Keep  it  forever  floating  in 
the  midst  of  our  people,  high  up  where  the  morn- 
ing sun  may  transfigure  it.  Spread  it  where  the 
school  children  may  look  upon  it.  No  school 
house  is  finished  without  it.  Let  it  float  over  the 
halls  of  justice,  for  liberty  is  the  twin  sister  of 
justice  and  this  is  the  flag  of  liberty.  It  is  fur- 
thermore the  flag  of  a  united  people,  the  ensign  of 
a  Union  preserved,  redeemed,  and  regenerated. — 
John  C.  Spooner,  U.  S.  Senator,  Wisconsin 
(1896). 

"Our  Flag.' 

When  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  was  at  Newport 
in  1863,  she  was  greatly  stirred  by  the  expression 
of  southern  sympathizers.  Florence  Howe  Hall 
tells  us  that  the  Naval  Academy  was  stationed  at 
Newport  at  that  time,  on  board  the  old  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  presence  of  the  naval  officers,  no 
doubt,  stimulated  expressions  011  both  sides.  "The 
Flag"  was  an  outburst  of  loyalty  and  of  a  protest 
as  well,  against  those  who  failed  to  honor  our 
National  emblem.  The  following  fine  tribute  to 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       179 

the  flag  is  from  a  longer  poem  which  first  appeared 
in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1863  : 

"There's  a  flag  hangs  over  my  threshold,  whose  folds  are 

more  dear  to  me 
Than  the  blood  that  thrills  in  my  bosom  its  earnest  of 

liberty, 

And  dear  are  the  stars  it  harbors  in  its  sunny  field  of  blue 
As  the  hope  of  a  further  heaven,  that  lights  all  our  dim 

lives  through. 

"The  flag  of  our  stately  battles,  not  struggles  of  wrath  and 

greed, 
Its  stripes  were  a  holy  lesson,  its   spangles   a   deathless 

creed ; 
'Twas  red  with  the  blood  of  freemen,  and  white  with  the 

fear  of  the  foe; 
And  the  stars  that  fight  in  their  courses  'gainst  tyrants 

its  symbols  know." 

"God  Bless  Our  Flag." 

And  the  flag!  God  bless  the  flag!  As  the 
heart  of  McCalhun  More  warmed  to  the  tartan, 
do  all  hearts  warm  to  the  flag!  Have  you  upon 
your  round  of  sight-seeing  missed  it  hereabout? 
Does  it  make  itself  on  any  hand  conspicuous  by 
its  absence  ?  Can  you  doubt  the  loyal  sincerity  of 
those  who  from  housetop  and  roof  tree  have  thrown 
it  to  the  breeze  ?  Let  some  sacrilegious  hand  be 
raised  to  haul  it  down  and  see!  No,  no,  com- 
rades ;  the  people  enmasse  do  not  deal  in  subter- 
fuges ;  they  do  not  stoop  to  conquer ;  they  may  be 
wrong ;  they  may  be  perverse ;  but  they  never  dis- 


180        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

semble.  These  are  honest  flags,  with  honest 
hearts  behind  them.  They  are  the  symbols  of  a 
nationality  as  precious  to  us  as  to  you.  They  fly 
at  last  as  Webster  would  have  had  them  fly,  bear- 
ing no  such  mottoes  as  "What  is  all  this  worth," 
or  "Liberty  first  and  union  afterwards,"  but  blaz- 
ing in  letters  of  living  light  upon  their  ample 
folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land, 
those  words  dear  to  every  American  heart,  "Union 
and  liberty,  now  and  forever,  one  and  insepar- 
able."— Henry  Watterson  (Or.  A.  R.,  Louisville, 
1895). 

The  Flag  as  an  Emblem. 

The  flag  is  an  emblem  of  national  honor.  It 
says  to  all  the  world  that  the  business  men  of  this 
country  are  men  of  integrity  and  opposed  to  re- 
pudiation. It  took  us  a  century  to  wipe  out  the 
stain  of  slavery,  and  if  we  put  upon  the  flag  the 
stain  of  repudiation  it  may  take  us  another  hun- 
dred years  to  make  it  clean  again. 

The  flag  is  an  emblem  of  the  reign  of  law.  It 
stands  for  law-protected  freedom,  law-protected 
labor,  law-protected  wealth,  law-protected  prosper- 
ity, and  law-protected  happiness.  Liberty  with- 
out law  is  a  dream ;  it  is  license ;  it  is  barbarism. 

The  flag  is  an  emblem  of  peace.  Wherever  it 
floats  it  heralds  a  day  when  swords  shall  be  beaten 
into  pruning  hooks,  and  the  universal  brother- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       181 

hood  of  man  shall  become  a  fulfilled  condition. — 
Frank  M.  Bristol,  D.D.  (Chicago,  1896). 

Harrison  on  the  Flag. 

I  was  never  so  profoundly  touched  with  the 
beauty  of  our  flag  than  at  night  time  in  one  of 
our  immense  political  demonstrations.  One  of 
the  features  of  the  occasion  was  the  sending  up- 
ward of  a  mighty  stream  of  electric  light  which, 
piercing  the  darkness  of  the  night,  reached  a  large 
flag  which  had  been  carried  upon  cords  a  thousand 
feet  from  the  earth.  The  scene  was  too  impres- 
sive for  me  to  describe.  I  can  only  say  that  it 
did  seem  as  though  the  flag  of  our  country  was 
waving  from  the  very  battlements  of  heaven. 
God  pity  the  American  citzen  who  does  not  love 
the  flag;  who  does  not  see  in  it  the  story  of  our 
great,  free  institutions,  and  the  hope  of  the  home 
as  well  as  the  Nation. — Benjamin  Harrison. 

The  Flag  and  Patriotism. 

In  every  great  Nation  there  is  patriotism,  love 
of  country,  pride  of  race,  courage,  manliness,  the 
things  which  money  cannot  make  and  which  money 
cannot  buy.  When  everything  is  money,  and 
there  is  no  other  standard  to  try  every  question 
by,  decadence  has  begun,  the  hour  of  the  down- 
fall is  approaching.  .  .  .  You  may  call  it 
sentiment  or  passion  or  what  you  will,  but  the  love 


182        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

of  country  is  one  of  the  great  moving  causes  of 
National  life.  When  we  look  at  that  flag,  what 
is  it  that  makes  our  hearts  throb?  If  you  see  it 
in  foreign  lands,  as  I  did  last  summer,  after 
months  of  separation,  what  is  it  that  makes  your 
throat  choke  and  your  eyes  get  damp  ?  Is  it  be- 
cause a  great  many  men  have  made  money  under 
it?  I  believe  that  that  flag  is  a  great  deal  more 
than  the  sign  of  a  successful  National  shop,  never 
to  be  unfurled  for  fear  that  the  trader  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  way  may  have  his  feelings 
ruffled;  I  think  it  is  a  great  deal  more  than  that. 
And  when  I  look  at  it,  I  do  not  see,  and  you  do 
not  see,  there  the  graven  image  of  the  dollar; 
you  do  not  read  there  the  motto  of  the  epicure, 
"Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die." 
No;  you  read  on  that  flag  the  old  Latin  motto, 
"Per  aspera  ad  astra," — Through  toil  and  con- 
flict to  the  stars. 

You  do  not  see  the  dollar  on  it.  But  when 
you  look,  and  your  heart  swells  within  you  as 
you  look,  the  memories  that  come  are  very  dif- 
ferent. If  you  see  any  faces  there,  they  are  the 
faces  of  Washington  and  his  Continentals  behind 
him,  marching  from  defeat  at  Long  Island  to  vic- 
tory at  Trenton,  from  misery  at  Valley  Forge,  to 
final  triumph  at  Yorktown.  Look  again,  and  we 
all  see  the  face  of  Lincoln.  The  mighty  hosts  are 
there  of  the  men  who  have  lived  for  their  country, 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        183 

and  given  their  lives  for  their  country,  and  labored 
for  it,  each  in  his  separate  way,  and  believed  in  it 
and  loved  it.  They  are  all  there,  from  the  great 
chiefs  to  the  boys  who  fell  in  Baltimore.  That 
is  what  I  see  in  the  flag,  that  is  what  you  see. 
That  is  why  we  love  it,  because  it  means  this  great 
country  and  all  the  people.  It  means  all  the 
struggles  and  sufferings  we  have  gone  through,  all 
our  hopes,  all  our  aspirations.  ...  I  see  it 
as  the  American  poet  saw  it : 

"And  fixed  as  yonder  orb  divine 

That  saw  thy  bannered  blaze  unfurled, 
Shall  thy  proud  stars  resplendent  shine 
The  guard  and  glory  of  the  world." 

— Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  U.  S.  Senator,  Massachitr 
setts  (Rep.  St.  Con.,  1896). 

"The  Flag  to  go  Up" 

It  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution  that  our  flag,  "the  bright 
morning  star  of  hope  to  the  ISTations,"  now  floats 
unchallenged  in  the  wake  of  Sherman's  march  to 
the  sea.  In  1892,  Mrs.  Harrison,  our  President- 
General,  issued  an  order  to  us  to  hang  our  be- 
loved banner  on  the  outer  wall  on  the  coming 
Fourth  of  July.  In  far  Southland,  where,  for 
many  years,  the  American  flag  had  symbolized 
defeat  and  long-continued  suffering,  where,  from 
private  homes  at  least,  it  had  not  floated  since 


184       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

the  war,  this  order  created  a  sensation.  On  the 
twenty-fifth  of  June,  the  Atlanta  Constitution 
published  a  full  column  on  the  subject,  called 
"The  Flag  to  go  Up."  I  quote  a  brief  passage 
from  that  article :  "It  has  been  a  long  day,  long 
ago,  since  the  Union  flag  was  hoisted  by  woman's 
fair  hand  over  the  roof-tree  of  the  family  circle 
in  celebration  of  the  glorious  Fourth  of  July ;  but 
this  year,  when  the  bright  sun  rises  on  this  fair 
land  of  old  Columbia,  it  will  greet  again  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  unfurled  over  hundreds  of  housetops. 
It  will  be  the  work  of  the  National  Society  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution."  The 
Atlanta  chapter  of  our  society  adopted  signing 
resolutions  of  approval  which  re-echoed  through 
the  States  and  thus  once  more  "Old  Glory"  went 
marching  through  Georgia. — Mrs.  Charles  H. 
Smith,  Cleveland  (Milwaukee,  1897). 

The  Flag  and  the  Armor  less  Army. 

For  a  moment  to  us,  here,  in  this  festive  scene, 
the  curtained  future  opens,  and  we  may  see  such 
a  review  in  which  those  who  marched  and  saluted, 
are  on  the  stand.  Their  old  flags  are  above  them ; 
flags  from  Pea  Ridge  and  Donelson;  from  Vicks- 
burg  and  Gettysburg;  from  Chickamauga  and 
Antietam;  from  Mobile  and  Appomattox;  flags 
of  the  Potomac  army  and  the  Tennessee ;  the  Cum- 
berland and  the  Ohio ;  the  Georgia  and  the  James ; 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        185 

the  frontier  and  the  southwest,  flags  from  cavalry, 
and  artillery,  and  infantry;  flags  from  the  Hart- 
ford and  from  the  Kearsarge,  and  the  sea  graves  of 
the  "wide  future  empire  of  America" ;  flags  from 
the  siege  and  the  march,  out  from  twenty-three 
hundred  fields  of  strife — all  afloat  in  skies  of 
peace,  while  drums  are  jubilant,  and  bugles  blow 
the  brave  airs  of  old !  Under  those  colors  they  are 
there — the  steadfast  and  the  brave — crowned  with 
the  laurels  of  great  liberty's  bestowal,  while  be- 
fore them  move  the  columns  of  the  young,  who 
salute  them,  as  they  pass  and  cry, 

"What  you  have  won  we  will  keep." 
The  vanishing  men  in  blue  review  the  children 
of  the  Republic.  All  the  children  of  ALL  the 
Republic !  What  countless  columns  pass  before 
them!  How  long  the  lines  stretch  on!  They 
come  from  Florida  and  its  everglades ;  they  come 
from  the  golden-gated  Pacific;  they  rise  from  the 
hearthstones  of  our  mighty  West,  and  from  the 
shores  of  our  inland  seas.  They  come  from  the 
Atlantic  border,  and  from  Pennsylvania,  and  New 
York,  and  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  and  New 
England,  from  Alabama,  and  Georgia,  and  Texas 
— an  armorless  army! 

No  guns  gleam  over  them,  no  flashing  swords 
array  their  lines.  They  are  children ;  they  are 
children  of  the  whole  people,  North  and  South, 
marshalled  in  the  interest  of  the  Republic.  While 


186       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

bearing  no  material  weapons,  they  know  a  geog- 
raphy which  shows  an  unbroken  country;  they 
have  learned  the  mathematics  of  "many  in  one" ; 
they  speak  one  tongue;  they  march  to  a  future 
which  is  one  for  all  of  America's  children,  and 
over  them  all  rises  one  flag,  unchallenged,  su- 
preme, and  glorious — the  flag  of  the  free — never 
to  be  lowered  until  this  mighty  array  for  whom 
we  saved  the  country,  to  whose  feet  we  open  every 
avenue  of  progress  and  prosperity,  have  helped 
enlighten  the  eyes,  and  made  the  brotherhood  of 
mankind  a  fact  as  wide  as  the  world. — General 
John  C.  Black,  Illinois  (Milwaukee,  1897). 


"Every  Star  a  Story." 

It  was  during  the  war  with  Spain  that  Dr. 
Melancthon  Woolsey  Stryker,  president  of  Ham- 
ilton College,  JSTew  York,  sent  to  the  Hamilton 
Literary  Monthly,  the  following  stirring  poem  on 
the  flag : 

Roll  a  river  wide  and  strong, 

Like  the  tides  a-swinging, 
Lift  the  joyful  Hoods  of  song, 

Set  the  mountains  ringing. 
Run  the  lovely  banner  high — 

Crimson  morning  glory! — 
Field  as  blue  as  yonder  sky, 

Every  star  a  story. 

Let  the  people,  heart  and  lip, 
Hail  the  gleaming  splendor! 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       187 

Let  the  guns  from  shore  and  ship 

Acclamation  render! 
All  ye  oceans  clap  your  hands! 

Echo,  plains  and  highlands, 
Speed   the   voice   through    all    the   lands 

To  the  Orient  islands. 

Darling  flag  of  liberty 

Law  and  love  revealing, 
All   the  downcast  turn  to  thee 

For  thy  help  appealing. 
In  the  front  of  human  right, 

Flash  thy  stars  of  morning, 
All  that  hates  and  hides  the  light 

Flies  before  thy  warning. 

By  the  colors  of  the  day, 

By  the  breasts  that  wear  them, 
To  the  living  God  we  pray, 

That  the  brave  may  bear  them! 
Run  the  rippling  banner  high; 

Peace  or  war  the  weather, 
Cheers  or  tears,  we'll  live  or  die 

Under   it   together. 

W^hat  the  Flag  Teaches  and  Typifies. 

The  mysterious  influence  of  patriotism  has  its 
fountain  head  in  the  flag  of  our  country.  It 
gleams  upon  us  from  the  stars ;  it  is  fastened  to 
our  existence  by  the  immovable,  unchanging 
stripes.  Its  brilliant  red  teaches  us  to  remember 
the  heroes  who  brought  it  into  existence  to  sym- 
bolize the  birth  of  freedom.  Its  cerulean  blue  is 
emblematic  of  truth,  of  honor,  of  principle,  and 
of  that  kind  of  glory  which  is  everlasting.  Its 


188        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

spotless  white  typifies  the  purity  of  purpose  which 
actuated  our  forefathers  who  conceived  it.  Its 
stars  are  the  coronet  of  freedom ;  its  stripes  the 
scourges  of  oppression.  There  can  be  no  influence 
more  august,  there  can  be  no  holier  thrill  than 
that  which  the  flag  of  our  country  inspires  in  every 
patriotic  breast." 

"Old  Glory"  is  among  the  oldest  flags,  al- 
though we  are  one  of  the  youngest  of  Nations. 
The  present  flag  of  Spain  was  adopted  in  1785 ; 
the  tri-color  of  France  in  1794 ;  the  Union  Jack  of 
Great  Britain  in  1801 ;  the  banner  of  Portugal,  in 
1830;  of  Italy,  in  1848;  and  of  the  German  em- 
pire in  1871.  It  is  claimed  for  the  Stars  and 
Stripes — and  no  flag  except  the  French  or  the 
British  can  possibly  dispute  the  claim — that  it 
has  been  in  more  battles,  and  has  waved  over  more 
victories  on  land  and  sea,  than  any  banner  in  the 
world,  and  there  is  not  an  European  standard  for 
which  so  many  men  have  fought  and  died.  Some- 
thing like  a  million  lives  have  been  laid  down  that 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  might  continue  to  wave  over 
the  free. — Frederic  Van  Rensselaer  Dey  (Mun- 
sey'sMag.,  1898). 

The  Glory  of  the  Flag. 

When  the  monument  to  Francis  Scott  Key  was 
unveiled  at  Frederick,  Maryland,  on  the  ninth  of 
August,  1898,  Colonel  Henry  Watterson,  of  Louis- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       189 

ville,  delieverd  the  oration.  It  was  a  splendid 
characterization  of  the  poet,  and  a  fine  apostrophe 
to  the  flag.  I  can  make  only  brief  quotations 
from  the  address : 

The  Star  Spangled  Banner !  Was  ever  a  flag 
so  beautiful,  did  ever  a  flag  so  fill  the  souls  of 
men?  The  love  of  women;  the  sense  of  duty; 
the  thirst  for  glory;  the  heart-throbbing  that  im- 
pels the  humblest  American  to  stand  by  his  colors, 
fearless  in  the  defense  of  his  native  soil  and  hold- 
ing it  sweet  to  die  for  it — the  yearning  which 
draws  him  to  it  when  exiled  from  it — its  free  in- 
stitutions and  its  blessed  memories,  all  live  again 
in  the  lines  of  Key's  anthem. 

The  poem  tells  its  own  story,  and  never  a  truer, 
for  every  word  comes  direct  from  a  great,  heroic 
soul,  powder-stained  and  dipped,  as  it  were,  in 
sacred  blood : 

"0  say,  can  you  see  by  the  dawn's  early  light 

What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleam- 
ing, 
Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars  through  the  perilous 

fight, 

O'er  the  ramparts  we  watched,  were  so  gallantly  stream- 
ing?" 

Key  and  the  flag-officer  walked  the  deck  of  the 
cartel  boat  and  had  waited  long.  They  had 
counted  the  hours  as  they  watched  the  course  of 
the  battle.  But  a  deeper  anxiety  is  yet  to  possess 
them.  The  firing  has  ceased.  Ominous  silence! 


190        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Whilst  cannon  roared  they  knew  that  the  fort 
held  out.  Whilst  the  sky  was  lit  by  messengers  of 
death  they  could  see  the  National  colors  flying 
above  it — 

• — "the  rockets'  red  glare  and  bombs  bursting  in  air 

Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there." 

But  there  comes  an  end  at  last  to  waiting  and 
watching;  and  as  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  shoot 
above  the  horizon  and  gild  the  eastern  shore,  be- 
hold the  sight  that  gladdens  their  eyes  as  it — 
— "catches  the  gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam, 
In  full  glory  reflected  now  shines  in  the  stream — " 

for  there  over  the  battlements  of  McHenry  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  float  defiant  on  the  breeze,  whilst 
all  around  evidences  multiply  that  the  attack  has 
failed,  that  the  Americans  have  successfully  re- 
sisted it,  and  that  the  British  are  withdrawing 
their  forces.  For  then,  and  for  now,  and  for  all 
time,  come  the  words  of  the  anthem — 
"Oh,  thus  be  it  ever,  when  freedom  shall  stand 

Between  their  loved  homes  and  the  war's  desolation! 
Blest  with  victory  and  peace,  may  the  heaven-rescued  land 

Praise  the  Power  that  hath  made  and  preserved  us  a 

nation!" 
for — 

— "conquer  we  must  when  our  cause  it  is  just, 
And  this  be  our  motto:     'In  God  is  our  trust'; 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave!" 

"The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  owed  little  to 
chance.     It  was  the  emanation  of  a  patriotic  fer- 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        191 

vor  as  sincere  and  natural  as  it  was  simple  and 
noble.  It  sprang  from  one  of  those  glorious  in- 
spirations which,  coming  to  the  author  unbidden, 
seized  at  once  upon  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men. 

The  Flag  a  Call  to  Heroism. 

Patriotism,  loyalty,  devotion,  center  in  the 
flag  as  a  symbol,  as  it  could  not,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  center  in  anything  else.  Soldiers  come 
to  love  and  honor  the  flag  above  all  other  visible 
objects.  They  look  at  it  in  battle  as  that  for 
which  they  are  willing  to  die.  They  looked  at  it 
in  quieter  times  as  that  for  which  they  had  already 
done  so  much,  and  for  which  they  were  willing 
to  do  yet  more.  The  very  sight  of  it  was  a  call 
to  heroism,  and  an  inspiration  to  noble  thoughts 
and  deeds.  The  formal  bringing  of  the  colors  to 
their  place  in  the  line,  at  parade  or  review,  was  a 
ceremony  that  never  lost  its  power  through  famili- 
arity. It  grew  in  impressiveness  with  the  grow- 
ing experience  of  the  soldiers  in  the  army  service. 
It  intensified  the  sacredness  of  their  guide  and 
their  charge. — //.  C.  Truinbull,  Army  Chaplain 
(1898). 

The  Name  of  Old  Glory:' 

The  quaintness  of  Mr.  Riley's  poem  on  "Old 
Glory"  will  deeply  interest  the  reader.  It  first 
appeared  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  December, 


192       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

1898,  and  is  included  in  this  volume  by  the  gra- 
cious permission  of  the  author: 

"THE  NAME  OF  'OLD  GLOEY'— 1898. 
"When,  why,  and  by  whom,  was  our  flag  The  Stars  and 
Stripes  first  called    'Old  Glory'? 

— Daily  Query  to  Press." 

I. 

OLD  GLORY!  say,  who, 
By  the  ships  and  the  crew, 

And  the  long,  blended  ranks  of  the  Gray  and  the  Blue — 
Who  gave  you,  Old  Glory,  the  name  that  you  bear 
With  such  pride  everywhere, 
As  you  cast  yourself  free  to  the  rapturous  air, 
And  leap  out  full  length,  as  we're  wanting  you  to? — 
Who  gave  you  that  name,  with  the  ring  of  the  same, 
And  the  honor  and  fame  so  becoming  to  you? 
Your  stripes  stroked  in  ripples  of  white  and  of  red, 
With  your  stars  at  their  glittering  best  overhead — 
By  day  or  by  night 
Their  delightfulest  light 

Laughing  down   from  their  little  square  heaven  of  blue! 
Who  gave  you  the  name  of  Old  Glory — say,  who — 
Who  gave  you  the  name  of  Old  Glory? 

Then  the  old  banner  lifted,  and  faltering  then 
In  vague  lisps  and  whispers  fell  silent  again. 

II. 

Old  Glory, — speak  out!     We  are  asking  about 
How  you  happened  to  "favor"  a  name,  so  to  say, 
That  sounds  so  familiar  and  careless  and  gay, 
As  we  cheer  it,  and  shout  in  our  wild,  breezy  way — 
We — the  crowd,  every  man  of  us,  calling  you  that — 
We,  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry,  each  swinging  his  hat 
And  hurrahing  "Old  Glory!"  like  you  were  our  kin, 
When — Lord! — we  all  know  we're  as  common  as  sin! 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       193 

And  yet  it  just  seems  like  you  humor  us  all 
And  waft  us  your  thanks,  as  we  hail  you  and  fall 
Into  line,  with  you  over  us,  waving  us  on 
Where  our  glorified,  sanctified  betters  have  gone. 
And  this  is  the  reason  we're  wanting  to  know 
(And  we're  wanting  it  so! 

Where  our  own  fathers  went  we  are  willing  to  go) 
Who  gave  you  the  name  of  Old  Glory — 0-ho! — 

Who  gave  you  the  name  of  Old  Glory? 

The  old  flag  unfurled  with  a  billowy  thrill 

For  an  instant;  then  wistfully  sighed  and  was  still. 

III. 

Old  Glory,  the  story  we're  wanting  to  hear 

Is  what  the  plain  facts  of  your  christening  were, — 

For  your  name — just  to  hear  it, 

Repeat  it,  and  cheer  it,  's  a  tang  to  the  spirit 

As  salt  as  a  tear: 

And  seeing  you  fly,  and  the  boys  marching  by, 

There's  a  shout  in  the  throat  and  a  blur  in  the  eye, 

And  an  aching  to  live  for  you  always — or  die. 

If,  dying,  we  still  keep  you  waving  on  high. 

And  so,  by  our  love 

For  you,  floating  above, 

And  the  scars  of  all  wars  and  the  sorrows  thereof, 

Who  gave  you  the  name  of  Old  Glory,  and  why 

Are  we  thrilled  at  the  name  of  Old  Glory? 

Then  the  old  banner  leaped,  like  a  sail  in  the  blast, 
And  fluttered  an  audible  answer  at  last. 

And  it  spake,  with  a  shake  of  the  voice,  and  it  said: — 
By  the  driven  snow-white  and  the  living  blood-red 
Of  my  bars,  and  their  heaven  of  stars  overhead — 
By  the  symbol  conjoined  of  them  all,  skyward  cast, 
As  I  float  from  the  steeple,  or  flap  at  the  mast, 
Or  droop  o'er  the  sod  where  the  long  grasses  nod, 
My  name  is  as  old  as  the  glory  of  God. 

.     .     .     So  I  came  by  the  name  of  Old  Glory. 

— James  Whitcomb  Riley. 


194       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 
Character  follows  the  Flag. 

And  the  flag  now  is  not  the  flag  of  tyranny — 
it  is  the  flag  of  liberty ;  and  wherever  the  flag  goes 
there  go  character,  education,  American  civiliza- 
tion, and  American  liberty. 

We  all  love  that  flag.  It  gladdens  the  heart 
of  the  old  and  the  young  and  it  shelters  us  all. 
Wherever  it  is  raised,  on  land  or  sea,  at  home  or 
in  our  distant  possessions,  it  always  stands  for 
liberty  and  humanity ;  and  wherever  it  is  assaulted 
the  whole  Nation  rises  up  to  defend  it. — William 
McKinley  (October,  1899). 

Protect  the  Flag. 

Foreign  Nations  protect  their  National  colors, 
and  the  United  States  should  not  be  less  jealous 
than  they  to  save  our  National  emblems  from 
being  cheapened  or  degraded.  The  approval  of 
this  patriotic  movement  to  secure  a  flag  law  is 
almost  as  general  as  was  the  recent  approval  of 
the  appropriation  of  fifty  million  dollars  for  any 
emergency  that  might  confront  the  country. — 
Daily  Transcript  (Boston,  1899). 

The  Banner  that  never  Retreats. 

The  Republic  never  retreats.  Its  flag  is  the 
only  flag  that  has  never  known  defeat.  Where 
the  flag  leads,  we  follow,  for  we  know  that  the 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       195 

hand  that  bears  it  onward,  is  the  unseen  hand  of 
God.  We  follow  the  flag,  and  independence  is 
ours.  We  follow  the  flag,  and  nationality  is  ours. 
We  follow  the  flag,  and  oceans  are  ruled.  We 
follow  the  flag,  and  the  Occident  and  Orient 
tyranny  falls  and  barbarism  is  subdued.  We 
follow  the  flag  at  Trenton  and  Valley  Forge,  at 
Saratoga  and  upon  the  crimson  seas,  at  Buena 
Vista  and  Chapultepec,  at  Gettysburg  and  Mission 
Ridge,  at  Santiago  and  Manila,  and  everywhere 
and  always  it  means  larger  liberty,  nobler  oppor- 
tunity, and  greater  human  happiness;  for  every- 
where and  always  it  means  the  blessings  of  the 
greater  Republic.  And  so  God  leads,  we  follow 
the  flag,  and  the  Republic  never  retreats. — A.  J. 
Beveridge,  U.  8.  Senator,  Indiana  (Philadelphia, 
1899). 

The  Emblem  of  Human  Freedom. 

While  political  passion  has  now  and  then,  and 
for  brief  periods,  disturbed  this  auspicious  har- 
mony, yet  what  a  marvel  of  concord,  of  power,  and 
of  progress  is  presented  for  the  contemplation  of 
mankind  by  this  reunited  country.  The  bloodiest 
war  of  the  ages,  with  its  embittered  alienations 
all  in  the  past ;  its  lessons  of  immortal  memories 
are  a  guide  and  inspiration  for  all  the  future. 
As  the  vanguard,  the  color-bearers  in  the 
march  of  the  Nations,  we  lift  aloft  this  proud 


196       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

banner  of  freedom  and  bid  universal  humanity  to 
catch  its  inspiration. 

By  the  memories  of  the  Fathers  who  be- 
queathed us  this  priceless  heritage;  by  the  names 
and  deeds  of  Northern  heroes,  living  and  dead; 
by  the  sacrifice  and  measureless  woes  endured  by 
Southern  womanhood;  by  the  heroic  devotion  and 
dauntless  courage  of  the  sons  of  the  South — by 
all  these  we  unite  in  solemn  compact  that  this 
American  people  shall  know  intestine  war  no 
more :  but  shall  forever  remain  an  unbroken 
brotherhood  from  sea  to  sea.  By  all  these,  and  by 
the  resistless  fiat  of  an  inexorable  sentiment,  we 
proclaim  that  the  American  flag  shall  protect 
every  American  citizen  on  all  oceans  and  in  all 
lands.  And  in  God's  own  time,  it  may  be  His 
will  that  this  flag  shall  become  omnipotent  on 
every  acre  of  soil  on  this  North  American  con- 
tinent. 

But  whatever  be  the  geographical  limits  over 
which  destiny  decrees  it  to  float  as  the  symbol  of 
our  National  sovereignty,  there  shall  be  at  least 
no  boundaries  to  its  moral  sway;  but  as  long  as 
political  truth  triumphs  or  liberty  survives,  this 
flag  of  our  fathers  shall  remain  the  proudest  and 
most  potential  emblem  of  human  freedom  in  all 
the  world. — General  John  B.  Gordon,  Georgia 
(Brooklyn,  K  Y.,  1901). 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        197 
What  the  Flag  Means. 

What  American  of  all  of  us,  can  see  our  Starry 
Banner  flutter  out  on  mast  or  tower,  or  in  the 
street,  without  a  sudden  heart  throb?  Love, 
pride,  memory,  exultation,  mingle  in  one  swift 
emotion,  and  yet  we  seldom  pause  to  think  what 
"Old  Glory"  really  means  to  us. 

It  means  history — stained  here  and  there  with 
mistake  and  wrong,  indeed,  but  as  a  whole,  won- 
derful and  glorious.  It  means  protection — the 
right  to  live,  to  think,  to  aspire,  to  work  in  an 
atmosphere  of  the  most  blessed  freedom  and  safety 
our  earth  has  ever  known.  It  means  hope — hope 
and  help  for  ourselves  and  for  all  the  world. 

Whatever  the  ISTation  is  to  achieve  or  to  be- 
come in  the  future  depends  upon  its  citizenship, 
and  the  mighty  voice  of  the  people  is  but  the  com- 
bined voice  of  individuals.  What  would  you  have 
your  country  to  be  in  honor,  purity,  high  endeavor, 
and  righteousness  ?  Make  one  citizen  of  that 
kind;  that  is  the  part  given  to  you  to  do. — Kate 
W.  Hamilton,  in  Wellspring  (Boston,  1901). 

The  Flag   Woven  of  Heroism  and 
Grief. 

United  States  Senator  Albert  J.  Beveridge,  of 
Indiana,  was  requested  by  the  Senators,  and  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  speak 


198        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

for  both  sides,  on  the  Philippine  question.  He 
acceded  to  their  request,  and  the  speech  was  deliv- 
ered in  the  Senate  on  Tuesday,  January  ninth, 
1900.  The  following  paragraphs  are  from  that 
masterful  speech : 

Do  you  remind  me  of  the  precious  blood  that 
must  be  shed,  the  lives  that  must  be  given,  the 
broken  hearts  of  loved  ones  for  their  slain  ?  And 
this  is  indeed  a  heavier  price  than  all  combined. 
And  yet,  as  a  Nation,  every  historic  duty  we  have 
done,  every  achievement  we  have  accomplished, 
has  been  by  the  sacrifice  of  our  noblest  sons. 
Every  holy  memory  that  glorifies  the  flag  is  of 
those  heroes  who  died  that  its  onward  march  might 
not  be  stayed.  It  is  the  Nation's  dearest  lives 
yielded  for  the  flag  that  makes  it  dear  to  us ;  it  is 
the  Nation's  most  precious  blood  poured  out  for 
it  that  makes  it  precious  to  us.  That  flag  is  woven 
of  heroism  and  grief,  of  the  bravery  of  men,  and 
women's  tears,  of  righteousness  and  battle,  of  sac- 
rifice and  anguish,  of  triumph  and  glory.  It  is 
these  which  made  our  flag  a  holy  thing.  Who 
would  tear  from  that  sacred  banner  the  glorious 
legends  of  a  single  battle  where  it  has  waved  on 
land  or  sea?  What  son  of  a  soldier  of  the  flag 
whose  father  fell  beneath  it  on  any  field  would 
surrender  that  proud  record  for  the  heraldry  of  a 
king  ?  In  the  cause  of  civilization,  in  the  service 
of  the  Republic  anywhere  on  earth,  Americans 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       199 

consider  wounds  the  noblest  decorations  man  can 
win,  and  count  the  giving  of  their  lives  a  glad  and 
precious  duty. 

Pray  God  that  spirit  never  fails.  Pray  God 
time  may  never  come  when  Mammon  and  the  love 
of  ease  shall  so  debase  our  blood  that  we  will  fear 
to  shed  it  for  the  flag  and  its  imperial  destiny. 
Pray  God  the  time  may  never  come  when  Amer- 
ican heroism  is  but  a  legend  like  the  story  of  the 
Cid,  American  faith  in  our  mission  and  our  might 
a  dream  dissolved,  and  the  glory  of  our  mighty 
race  departed. 

That  time  will  never  come.  We  will  renew 
our  youth  at  the  fountain  of  new  and  glorious 
deeds.  We  will  exalt  our  reverence  for  the  flag 
by  carrying  it  to  a  nobler  future  as  well  as  by 
remembering  its  ineffable  past.  Its  immortality 
will  not  pass  because  everywhere  and  always  we 
will  acknowledge  and  discharge  the  solemn  respon- 
sibilities our  sacred  flag,  in  its  deepest  meaning, 
puts  upon  us. 

The  Unconquerable  Banner. 

Thousands  of  battles  were  fought ;  the  lines  of 
the  rebellion  were  broken;  its  strongholds  over- 
thrown ;  the  flag  was  lifted  higher  and  higher,  and 
at  the  last  Appomattox  crowned  the  great  work; 
the  hosts  of  the  rebellion  disappeared;  the  hosts 
of  the  Union  turned  their  faces  with  song  and  re- 


200        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

joicing  and  hallelujahs  to  the  dear  old  homes. 
But  they  had  kept  the  flag  in  the  sky!  they  had 
taught  the  world  that  under  God  it  was  to  remain 
there  forever,  that  it  was  the  imperishable  and 
unconquerable  banner! — Mrs.  John  C.  Black, 
Chicago,  in  War  Memories  and  Music  (Indian- 
apolis, 1901). 

All  Rally  'Round  the  Flag. 

The  States  are  all  right  as  far  as  they  go,  but 
let  anyone  just  touch  "Old  Glory"  and  the  many 
are  one — America. — Andrew  Carnegie  (1902). 

The  Language  of  the  Flag. 

The  Star  Spangled  Banner  of  Freedom  was 
always  beautiful  but  never  as  beautiful  as  now. 
The  very  colors  have  a  language  known  and  read 
of  all  men.  The  groundwork  of  the  flag,  as  of 
the  Union,  is  whiteness,  white  being  the  symbol 
of  truthfulness,  righteousness,  and  purity,  and 
drawn  across  that  white  face — white  as  an  angel's 
wing — is  the  crimson  band  which  from  creation's 
morning  has  symbolized  all  the  courage  and  self- 
sacrifice  and  open- veined  manhood  which  can  flow 
in  wide  red  streams  from  the  gaping  wounds  of 
patriot  and  hero.  And  pressed  close  upon  that 
seamless  robe  of  purity,  and  close  beside  the  costly 
crimson  streams  that  flow  like  rivers  of  salvation 
over  it  is  the  blue,  the  faithful  blue,  like  the  very 
body  of  heaven  for  clearness,  out  of  which  shine 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.        201 

the  mysterious,  deathless  stars,  lighting  the  night 
with  cheerful  fires. 

Ah,  yes,  the  blue  of  the  ocean  and  of  the  sky 
is  there,  and  on  whatever  coast  the  deep  blue  ocean 
beats,  and  over  whatever  people  the  peaceful  firma- 
ment bends  down  like  God's  own  pity,  the  starry 
flag  shall  shed  its  triumphant,  beneficent,  celestial 
influence.  The  stars  and  all  the  powers  of  heaven 
are  there,  and  so  surely  as  the  stars  in  their  courses 
fought  against  Sisera  in  the  olden  time,  so  will 
they  fight  now  for  the  flag  which  is  the  emblem 
of  righteousness  and  truth  and  freedom. — C.  H. 
Cobern,  V.D.,  Chicago  (1902). 

T/ie   Sun  Never  Sets  on  the  Starry 
Banner. 

Born  of  the  highest  intellectual  and  ethical  de- 
velopment of  the  centuries,  our  flag  stands  for  the 
sacredness  of  the  home,  the  integrity  of  manhood, 
and  the  purity  of  womanhood.  It  is  a  far  cry 
from  Maine  to  the  Philippines,  but  in  the  earth's 
swift  journey  there  is  now  no  hour  when  the 
Starry  Banner  is  not  kissed  by  the  radiant  sun; 
as  it  sinks  beneath  the  waters  of  Orient  seas,  the 
splendor  of  the  opal  and  the  rose  illumes  a  new 
day  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  proud  America. 
Wherever  borne  in  battle,  whether  through  ancient 
wilderness  or  on  sounding  sea,  some  sacred  right 
of  humanity  is  secured,  while  with  song  and  shout 


202        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

the  Nation's  heroes  follow  our  triumphant  flag 
around  the  world. — Ogden  Hoffman  Fethers, 
LL.D.,  Wisconsin  (1902). 

A  Symbol  of  Ideal  Aspirations. 

The  flag  of  the  American  Union  is  a  visible 
symbol  of  the  ideal  aspirations  of  the  American 
people.  It  is  the  one  focus  in  which  all  unite  in 
reverential  devotion.  We  differ  in  religion;  we 
differ  in  politics;  we  engage  in  violent  dis- 
putes as  to  the  true  meaning  of  the  Consti- 
tution, and  even  challenge  the  wisdom  of  some 
of  its  provisions;  we  inject  self-interest  and 
cupidity  into  most  of  the  ordinary  transactions  of 
daily  life,  but  through  the  sanctifying  folds  of  the 
flag  the  collective  intelligence  of  the  Nation  rises 
superior  to  the  wisdom  of  any  of  its  parts,  and 
thereby  ensures  the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic. — 
Major-General  Arthur  Mac  Arthur,  U.  8.  A. 
(1903). 

Mistress  over  Greater  Territory. 

A  dinner  was  given  by  the  Minnesota  Society 
in  New  York  City  in  December,  1902,  to  Arch- 
bishop John  Ireland,  at  which  he  delivered  an  ad- 
dress on  "The  Future  of  the  Great  Republic." 
The  Archbishop  is  one  of  the  great  prophets  of 
our  time  and  from  the  address  is  taken  the  follow- 
ing striking  apostrophe  to  the  flag: 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       203 

I  do  not  want  to  be  bellicose,  but  I  say  this 
for  myself :  As  sure  as  fate,  although,  you  and  I 
may  not  see  it,  the  Starry  Banner  will  wave  mis- 
tress over  all  the  territory  from  the  Gulf  to  the 
Bay.  There  will  be  no  conquest,  no  war.  The 
hearts  across  the  border  are  already  beating  with 
love  for  us,  and  commerce  and  agriculture  are  call- 
ing for  espousals. 

The  Flag  and  Young  Men. 

I  have  already  drawn  upon  General  Horace 
Porter — our  Ambassador  to  France — for  a  tribute 
to  the  flag,  but  I  believe  nothing  will  more  fittingly 
close  this  volume  than  two  paragraphs  from  the 
address  he  delivered  at  the  meeting  of  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  in  Cincinnati,  in  1895.  All  of 
the  General's  speeches  on  the  flag  read  like  an 
inspiration : 

I  want  to  see  the  young  men  of  this  land 
taught  that  our  banner  should  be  to  them  like 
the  banner  in  the  sky  which  appeared  to  Con- 
stantine  of  old,  which  turned  him  back  into  the 
path  of  duty  from  which  he  had  strayed.  It 
should  be  taught  that  it  is  to  be  their  pillar  of 
cloud  by  day;  their  pillar  of  fire  by  night;  that 
it  is  to  wave  about  them  in  victory,  be  their  rally- 
ing point  in  defeat,  and  if  perchance  they  offer  up 
their  lives  a  sacrifice  in  its  defence,  its  gentle 
folds  will  rest  upon  their  bosoms  in  death;  its 


204       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

crimson  stripes  will  mingle  with  their  generous 
hearts'  blood;  its  very  presence  there  upon  their 
bodies,  coffined  or  uncoffined,  will  write  a  more 
enduring  epitaph  than  that  on  the  sarcophagus  in 
which  the  great  Sesostris  sleeps. 

I  think  we  can  all  agree  that  France  is  one 
of  the  most  patriotic  countries  that  the  world  has 
seen,  and  you  are  all  aware  that  the  French  flag  is 
hoisted  upon  every  public  building,  every  public 
place,  and  never  once  hauled  down  until  it  is  worn 
to  tatters;  and  so,  in  calm  and  in  storm,  by  day 
and  by  night,  in  the  brilliancy  of  the  sun's  rays 
and  in  the  glare  of  the  electric  light,  that  National 
standard  is  ever  present  to  the  view  of  a  French 
citizen.  We  can  learn  something  from  France  in 
this  respect.  I  believe  that  nothing  would  more 
gladden  the  heart  of  every  patriotic  citizen  of  this 
land  than  to  see  it  decreed  by  National  and  State 
enactments  that  that  flag  should  be  hoisted  upon 
every  public  building,  every  public  place,  every 
public  memorial,  and  especially  on  every  school 
house,  and  never  once  hauled  down. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 

A  Pathetic  Incident    -     -     -    -  -     -     128 

Adams,  John       -- 34,  56 

American  Flags  Not  Captured 171 

An  Emblem  of  Unity  and  Power 175 

Anderson,  Henry     --- _-.     105 

Anderson,  Henry     --- _.-     105 

Anderson,  Major,  and  the  Flag 90 

Appleton,  William  S.  --- -    -       11 

Armstrong,  William  Jackson    -------     113 

Austin,  the  Misses  Mary  and  Sarah     -     -    -     -       60 

Banner  that  Never  Retreats,  The  194 

Beauty  of  the  Flag,  The  171 

Beautiful  Symbolations  of  the  Flag    -     -     -     -     161 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward  104,  159 

Beveridge,  Albert  J.    -  -  195-197 

Belknap,  General  W.  W.  170 

Benjamin,  Charles  L.       ---------     121 

Black,  General  John  C.  -  186 

Black,  Mrs.  John  C.  200 

Boom  in  the  Flag  Trade,  A  120 

Boudinot,  Elias  70 

Bon  Homme,  Richard  -    59,  64,  66 

Brady,  Cyrus   T.     -     -     -     -  -     109 


208        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Brady  on  the  "Stafford  Flag" 63 

Bristol,  Eev.  Frank  M. 181 

British  Honoring  the  Flag 122 

Browne,  Shearjashur  ----------  72 

Bunker  Hill  Flag,  The -    -    -    -  12 

Bunker  Hill,  The  Battle  of 12 

Butler,  General  Benjamin  F. 96-111 

Buell,  A.  C.   -------------  64 

Cambridge  Flag,  The 20 

Carnegie,  Andrew   -----------  200 

Captured  Battle  Flags 113 

Carrying  the  Flag  Through  England     -     -     -     -  124 

Character  Follows  the  Flag     -------  194 

Chetlain,  General  A.  L. 165 

Children  and  the  Flag 123 

Cross  and  the  Flag,  The 92 

Craig,  Jane  M.  -     -     - 37 

Cobern,  Rev.  C.  H.  201 

Conrad,  Henry  C.       ----------  53 

Concord  Flag,  The 11 

Corson,  Hampton  L.    ----------  139 

Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution    -     -    -  144 

Daughters  Raise  a  Flag,  The 137 

Depew,  Chauncey  M.  ----------  175 

Dey,   Frederic  Van  Rensselaer    ------  188 

Dix,  General  John  A.     -    -  -     96-158 

Dix's  Famous  Order    -- --  95 

Drake,  Joseph  Rodman 153 

Driver,    William  125 

Duty  to  Our  Flag  -  156 
Dwight,  Theodore  W.  -                                             45,  55 

Emblem  of  Human  Freedom,  The 195 

Eggleston,  Lewis  W.    -- 105 

Ellis,  Edward  S.,  Historical  Readings     -  62 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.  209 

Emperor  William  106 

Encourage  the  Use  of  Flags,  To  106 

Eutaw  Flag,  The  41 

"Every   Star   a   Story"  186 

Extemporized  Flag,  An    -     -                                -     -  102 

Fairbanks,  Mrs.   Cornelia     --------  137 

Farragut,  Commodore 93 

Fethers,  Ogden  Hoffman 201 

Fifth  New  Hampshire  at  Fredericksburg     -     -     -  195 

First  Alteration  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  The     -  67 

First  Foreign   Salute  to  the  Flag,  The          -     -  56 

Fiske,   John  -------------  51 

First  Salute  to  the  Flag  107 

Flag  and  the  Nation,  The  169 

Flag  and  American  Citizenship,  The  157 

Flag  and  Betsy  Ross,  The  45 

Flag  and  the  Armorless  Army,  The  -----  184 

Flag  and  Patriotism,  The  181 

Flag  and  Young  Men,  The  -  203 

Flag  a  Symbol  of  Ideal  Aspiration,  The  202 

Flag,  Debates  on  by  Congress 67,  73 

Flag  an  Object  Lesson,  The     -------  127 

Flag  as  an  Emblem,  The     --------  180 

Flag  a  Protection  Abroad,  The  109 

Flag  Has  Never  Known  Defeat,  The     -     -     -     -  121 

Flag  Incidents    ------------  87 

Flag  in  the  Home,  The     -----          _._  131 

Flag  in  London,  The  -  111 

Flag  of  Fort  Walker,  The                                         -  91 

Flag  of  the   Alfred,   The  30 
Flag  of  the  Culpepper  Minute-men,  The 

Flag  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Michigan,  The  97 

Flag  Presented  to  Lincoln,  A 116 

Flag   of   a   Continental   Union  172 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Flag  Mistress  Over  a  Greater  Territory,  The     -  202 

Flag  of  the  Morgan  Eifles,  The 39 

Flag  of   Our  Country,   The 142 

Flag  of  the  Eichard,  The 60 

Flag  Eaised  on  the  Mountains 91 

Flag  Saved  a  County  to  the  Union,  The    -    -     -  138 

Flag,  the  Crescent 25 

Flag,  the  John  Proctor 37 

Flag,  the  Largest  Ever  Made 133 

Flag  with  a  Beautiful  Story,  A 40 

Flag  with  a  Great  History,  A 175 

Flag  Woven  of  Heroism  and  Grief    -----  197 

Flags  of  Many  Kinds -..  26 

Flags  of  the  Floating  Batteries,  The    -     -    -    -  35 

Forman,  Edward  E. 136 

Fort  Schuyler  Flag,  The 50 

Fort  Stanwix  (see  Schuyler)     -------  50 

Fourth  Michigan  Infantry --  100 

Franklin,  Benjamin    ----------  20 

French  Flag,  The 204 

Gadsden's   Standard,   The         32 

Gansevoort,  General  Peter -    -     50,  53 

Gard,  Anson  A. 119 

Garfield's  Trust 166 

General  Grant  and  the  Flag 158 

Germans  Salute  Our  Flag    --------  106 

Glorious  Flag  at  Sumter    --------  159 

Glory   of   the   Flag 188 

"God  Bless  Our  Flag" 179 

Goff,  Nathan,  Jr. 120 

Goodhue,  Benjamin 68,  71 

Gordon,  General  John  B. 196 

Granger,  George     -----------  98 

Great  Day  at  Sumter,  A 103 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.  211 

"Great  Union  Flag"  (see  Cambridge  Flag)          -  23 

Great  Objects  Symbolized  by  our  Flag    -    -        -  163 

Greatness  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  The     -     -     -  139 

Greenup,  Christopher       ---------  69 

Hall,  Edward  Hagaman  ---------  54 

Halleck,  Fitz-Greene 155 

Hamilton,   General   Schuyler     -------  72 

Hamilton,  Kate  W.  197 

Hancock,   John  - ---14,  29 

Hanged  for  Hauling  Down  the  Flag    -     -     -    -  93 

Harrison,  Benjamin     -- 21 

Harrison  on  the  Flag 181 

Henry,  Patrick                                                    -     -     -  38 

Hoar,  George  F. 171 

Holland,  Josiah  G.      ----- 90 

Home-made  Flag  Material 110 

Hopkins,  Commodore  Ezek.       -------  27 

Houston,   Samuel    ----- 157 

Howe,  Julia  Ward 178 

Hulme,  Edward  125 

Hymn  to  the  Flag .-.  us 

Ingersoll's  Apostrophe  to  the  Flag 166 

Ireland,  Archbishop     -- 202 

Jasper,  Sergeant,  Heroism  of-------  25 

Jefferson,  Thomas 29 

Jenckes,  Joseph       --- 15 

Jenkins,  Mrs.  James  G. 146 

Jones,  John  Paul  -  74,  107 

Jones,  Paul,  and  his  Sinking  Flag                          -  65 

Jones  and  the  First  Flag     -- 55 

Jones,  Paul,  and  his  Flag 28 

Jones,  Raises  First  "Flag  of  America"  on  the 

Alfred   -  29 

Kempster,  Mrs.  Walter 144 


212        OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Key,  Francis   Scott    ----------  87 

Language  of  the  Flag    ---------  200 

Lansing,  Mrs.  Abraham  ---------  51 

Lansing,  Catherine  Gansevoort 53 

Leonard,  Rev.  Abiel 14 

"Liberty  Tree,"  Ballad  of  the     -    -  17 

Liberty  Tree  Flag,  The  28 

Liberty  Tree,  The  -  15 

Lincoln   and   the   Flag     ---------  89 

Lincoln,    President       -     -     -          90,  104 

Livermore,  Mary  A. -     -     97,  98 

Lodge,  Henry  Cabot     ----------  183 

Logan,  General  John  A.  ---------  166 

Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution     -     -     -  34 

Lossing,   Benson   J.     ---- 12 

Lyman,    William -----  68 

Lynch,  Thomas  ------------  28 

MacArthur,   General  Arthur     - 202 

Madison,  James       -----------  71 

Maher,  Mrs.  Sarah  Landis    - 138 

Markoe,  Abram  ------------  19 

Markoe  Banner,  The ..--  18 

McGonagle,  J.  C.  110 

McKinley,    Willam                                 60,  117,  174,  194 

Miller,  Hugh  Gordon  -                                              -  142 

Morrill,  Colonel  Henry  A. 97 

Moultrie,  Colonel  William --  25 

Mulford,  Miss  Josephine  133 

Mumford,  William  B.  94 

Munsell,   Sergeant,   at   Gettysburg     -----  99 

Newcomb,   Lydia   Bowles 16 

New  England  Flag,   The  13 

New  Flag  Across  the  Sea,  The     ------  57 

Niles,  Nathaniel 70 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.  213 

Ninth  Iowa  Infantry,  Tattered  Banner    -    -    -  98 

Notable  Banner      --- 101 

"Old  Glory"  at  Santiago 126 

"Old  Glory,"  the  Original    -     -    -  125 

Oriskany,  The  Battle  of 51 

"Our  Flag" -  178 

Our  Old  Flag 164 

Page,  Captain  Nathaniel     --------  10 

Paine,   Thomas  ---- 17 

Patriotism  and  the  Flag 129 

Payne,  Mrs.  Henry  C. 146 

Pea  Eidge,  Battle  of  -     -                                    -    -  98 

Peck,  Abel  G. 97 

Pine  Tree  Flags     -  33 

Pine  Tree  Flag  of  New  England     -----  13 

Porter,  General  Horace  -  177,  203 

Powell,  Mrs.  K.  Randolph    -     -  146 

Pratt,  Rev.  Dwight  M.  131 

Pratt,  Mrs.  Julius  H.  146 

Protect  the  Flag  194 

Protecting  the  Flag  from  Desecration     -     -     -     -  144 

Pulaski  Banner,  The  -  39 
Putnam's  Flag  at  Prospect  Hill                              14,  34 

Rattlesnake  Device,  The  38 

Raymond,  Henry  J.     ---------  90 

Reed,  Colonel  Joseph,  Suggests  a  Flag   -     -          23,  35 

Reid,  Alexander  J.      ----------  116 

Reid,  Samuel  C.     -  84 

Riis,  Jacob  A.     ----- 141 

Richard  and  the  Serapis,  The  -                                -  59 

Riley,  James  Whitcomb .-.-  193 

Ritchie,  Mrs.  John 146 

Ross,  Jacob 106 

Sage,  Mrs.  Russell 124,  127 


214       OUR  NATION'S  FLAG. 

Schley,  Winfield  Scott -    -  142 

Second  and  Last  Alteration  of  the  Flag,  The  -    -  73 

Second  Wisconsin  Infantry 104 

Seward,  William  H. 109 

Sherman,  Genereal  W.  T. 164 

Sixth  Wisconsin  Infantry 105 

Smilley,  George  W. -    -  113 

Smith,  Mrs.  Charles  H. 184 

Smith,   William 71 

Soldiers'   Love   of   the   Flag    -    -          -     -     -     -  174 

Sons   of  Liberty --  15 

Southern  Respect  for  the  Flag     ------  132 

Spooner,  John  C. 178 

Stafford,  Harriet  R.  P. 60 

Stafford,  James  B. 61,  62 

Stafford,  Sarah  S. 61 

Star  Spangled  Banner,  When  First  Ordained  -    -  43 

Star  Spangled  Banner 88 

Stars  and  Stripes,  How  They  Came  into  Being    -  48 

Stars  and  Stripes  in  Ireland,  The     -----  115 

Stirring  Scene  at  Macon 102 

Stryker,  Melancthon  Woolsey 186 

Sumner,   Charles --  162 

Sumter  Flag  After  Many  Years,  The    -     -     -     -  117 

Sutton,  George  D. 121 

Sutton,  Mary  Dowling 122 

Swartwout,  Abraham ._.-  51 

Taylor,  John  W.     -     -     -  75 

Thatcher,  George  69 

The  American  Flag  (Poem) 154 

The  Banner  as  a  Charm 140 

"The  Flag  to  Go  Up"    -  183 

The  Language  of  the   Flag    -    -     -  200 

The  Name  of  Old  Glory 191 


OUR  NATION'S  FLAG.       215 

The  Old  Flag                                                        158,  162 

The  Sun  Never  Sets  on  the  Starry  Banner    -     -  201 

Thompson,  Colonel  Richard  S.     ------  128 

Titcomb,  Miss  Virginia  Chandler 135 

True  Banner  of  Liberty,  The 165 

Trying  to  Imitate  Old  Glory 136 

Trumbull,  Rev.  H.  C. 101,  118,  133 

Trumbull,    John 13 

Tucker,  Commodore  Samuel 36 

Tyng,  Stephen  H. 102 

Unconquerable  Banner,  The      -------  199 

"Unconquered  and  Unstricken"  Flag,  The     -     -  66 

Veasey,  Colonel  Wheeler  G. 172 

Voice  of  Our  Flag,  The    -     -     -                         -     -  168 

Walker,   Francis -..  105 

Washington,  Colonel  William 40 

Washington,  George,  Hoists  "Great  Union  Flag"  20,  23 

Watterson,  Colonel  Henry    -----            180,  188 

Watts,  John  -     -    -     -                                         -     -  72 

Webster,   Daniel 156 

Wendover,  Peter  H. 73,  74,  75,  80 

Westmoreland  County  Flag 37 

What  the  Flag  Means 197 

What  the  Flag  Teaches  and  Typifies  187 

Winthrop,  Robert  C.  -     -     -  169 

Wood,  Frances  A.  -     -     - --  11 

Woodford,  General  Stewart  L.     -                      117,  172 

Young  Should  Love  the  Flag,  The 177 


555 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A    001  078  090     6 


